'A rightful verdict on election crimes that deceived the public with lies'
The Democratic Party of Korea called on the People Power Party to immediately apologize to the public and return 39.7 billion won ($29.6 million) in election funds after an appeals court upheld a conviction-level sentence against former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Public Official Election Act charges Wednesday.
Park Sung-jun, the Democratic Party's chief spokesperson, said in a written briefing Wednesday that the People Power Party must now pay the price. Park said the court had upheld the first-instance guilty verdict, sentencing Yoon to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, calling it "a rightful verdict on election crimes that deceived the public's choice with lies during the last presidential election."
Park added that it was now the People Power Party's turn to take responsibility. "The People Power Party not only failed to correct the lies but shielded them and ran an election on that basis — and that is how they made a president," Park said. "The Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which began with lies, ultimately went so far as to stage an insurrection."
Park also said the party had offered no apology and was still holding on to the 39.7 billion won in election expenses reimbursed on the back of those lies. "The appeals court has now joined the first court in finding him guilty. The People Power Party has no grounds to hold out any longer," Park added.
Under the Public Official Election Act, a final conviction carrying a fine of 1 million won or more invalidates an election victory. In that case, the People Power Party would be required to return the 39.7 billion won in election expenses it received as reimbursement from the last presidential election.
Criticism of the judiciary also emerged from the broader pro-government bloc, tied to Yoon's appeal. Democratic Party lawmaker Song Yeong-gil wrote on Facebook that the ruling stood in stark contrast to the appeals court decision by Senior Judge Gu Hoe-geun, whom Song accused of undermining public trust in the judiciary with "sophistry" in a ruling involving Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, said the judiciary had decided to abandon Yoon but was "continuing to issue biased rulings that defy public common sense," citing the verdicts in the cases of Park Sung-jae, Oh Se-hoon and the generals involved in the so-called "hamburger meeting." Cho said Wednesday's ruling could not erase the need to hold Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae accountable for what Cho called unlawful conduct, nor the need to abolish the Court Administration Office.
addressh@heraldcorp.com
