A Seoul court has convicted South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol of election law violations, endangering the main opposition party’s reimbursement of nearly 40 billion won (USD 27.3 million) in campaign expenses for the 2022 presidential election. Yoon received an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, for making false statements as the People Power Party’s presidential candidate before the March 2022 election.
If the verdict stands after appeals, the People Power Party will have to repay the 39.7 billion won it received in campaign expenses from the election watchdog following Yoon’s win in the 2022 election. Political parties are reimbursed for campaign expenses under the election law if their presidential candidate garners at least 15% of the vote but must return the funds if the candidate is fined at least 1 million won or sentenced to prison for election law violations.
Yoon’s legal team plans to appeal the ruling, citing various errors. Earlier, special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team had indicted Yoon for allegedly providing false information during a press event in December 2021 and lying during a January 2022 interview. The court found Yoon guilty on both counts, agreeing with the special counsel’s assertions.
