Park Nam-seo, the mayor of Yeongju, received a suspended sentence in the case of being prosecuted for violating the Public Official Election Act by providing money during the election process. Consequently, his election as mayor of Yeongju has been nullified.
The Supreme Court's second division, led by Chief Justice Park Young-jae, upheld on the 13th the original judgment that sentenced Mayor Park to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year suspended sentence. If a sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more is confirmed under the Public Official Election Act, the election becomes invalid, resulting in the loss of position.
Mayor Park was indicted in the same year for allegedly making phone calls to voters and providing goods worth tens of millions of won during the internal primary ahead of the 8th nationwide local elections held in June 2022.
In the first trial, the court sentenced Mayor Park to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year suspended sentence in September 2023. The court explained the reasons for sentencing, stating, “Mayor Park has already been punished for election crimes twice, shifted responsibility to other defendants, and changed the SIM card of his mobile phone during the investigation.”
The appellate court, in November of last year, found the first trial's judgment to be just and dismissed the appeal. The court noted, “He mobilized a youth committee for an illegal primary campaign and engaged in organized election crimes, such as a money election,” adding, “Mayor Park has a history of receiving fines for election crimes in both 2003 and 2015, making severe punishment inevitable as he was the direct beneficiary of the criminal acts in this case.”
Mayor Park appealed against this decision, but the Supreme Court's judgment was consistent. The Supreme Court stated, “There is no error in the original court's judgment regarding the establishment of the offense of violating the Public Official Election Act and the admissibility of illegally collected evidence,” and confirmed the original ruling.