Two lawmakers of ruling party lose seats over election law violations

Two lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lost their parliamentary seats Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings on election law violations. The top court confirmed a 7 million-won ($4,800) fine against Rep. Yi Byeong-jin on charges of underreporting his assets during the parliamentary elections in April 2024, when he was elected into office. It also upheld another lower court ruling that sentenced Rep. Shin Yeong-dae’s former campaign manager to a suspended prison term on charges of distorting a party opinion poll in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. By law, a lawmaker is stripped of his or her parliamentary seat if convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act and sentenced to a prison term or a fine of 1 million won or more. Their election is also invalidated if their campaign manager receives a prison term or a fine of 3 million won or more. Yi was indicted in October 2024 on charges of failing to report some of his assets during his election campaign, including some 70 million won worth of stocks and a record of having put up land he p

Read Full Article