Special counsel urges appeals court to uphold Yoon's election law conviction

The special counsel’s team wants the Seoul High Court to keep the lower court’s election-law conviction in place. It asked the appeals court to dismiss Yoon Suk Yeol’s appeal. This matters because a final conviction would affect both Yoon’s presidency and his former party’s finances.

The request came during an appeals hearing on Tuesday. The Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon in late July and sentenced him to 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for three years. The case concerns statements he made before the March 2022 presidential election.

The appeals court has not yet issued its decision. Its sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Oct. 27. If the conviction survives the appeals process, Yoon’s election would be invalidated, and the People Power Party would have to return 39.7 billion won in reimbursed campaign expenses.

Yoon’s conviction involved statements that prosecutors and the court considered false campaign-related claims. The first concerned a 2021 press event, where he said he had never introduced a lawyer to a former tax official. The second came in a January 2022 interview.

In that interview, Yoon claimed a party official had introduced him to shaman Jeon Seong-bae. He also denied meeting Jeon together with his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The court accepted the special counsel’s argument that both denials were untrue.

The court found that Yoon had in fact introduced the lawyer to the former tax official. It also found that he had met Jeon through his wife’s introduction. Yoon maintained his innocence in his closing statement and said the remarks cited by the special counsel were not false.

A suspended prison sentence means a court imposes prison time but postpones its enforcement for a set period. The person does not immediately serve the prison term. The suspension gives the sentence a conditional status during the specified period.

Yoon’s sentence was 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for three years. That means the court ordered a prison term but suspended its execution for three years. The article does not state additional conditions or explain what would happen if the suspension were breached.

The sentence was imposed by the Seoul Central District Court in late July for election-law violations involving false statements. Yoon appealed the conviction. The Seoul High Court is considering that appeal, with its sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 27, so the ruling is not yet final.

The People Power Party would have to return 39.7 billion won if Yoon’s election-law conviction is finalized. The article gives the amount as nearly $40 billion won and approximately $29.8 million. The repayment would be a major financial consequence for Yoon’s former ruling party.

The money was campaign-expense reimbursement that the election watchdog paid after Yoon won the 2022 presidential election. Political parties qualify for reimbursement when their presidential candidate receives at least 15 percent of the vote. Yoon’s party received that reimbursement after his victory.

The repayment is not triggered merely by the lower court’s ruling. Under the election law, the candidate must receive a finalized fine of at least 1 million won for an election-law violation. The article says a final conviction would require the PPP to return the reimbursed funds.

If the conviction becomes final, Yoon’s election as president would be invalidated. That is the central legal consequence described in the article. The ruling would also activate a financial consequence for the People Power Party, which received campaign-expense reimbursement after Yoon’s 2022 victory.

The party would have to return 39.7 billion won. The election law requires parties to repay reimbursed campaign expenses when their candidate receives a finalized fine of at least 1 million won for an election-law violation. The article links that rule to the finalization of Yoon’s conviction.

The political impact would be substantial because the case concerns the validity of a presidential election. The appeals court’s decision is still pending. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Oct. 27, and Yoon continues to deny that his statements were false.

Election laws can regulate statements made by candidates during a campaign because voters rely on information when choosing among candidates. In this case, the prosecution treated Yoon’s claims about personal events as false statements connected to his candidacy. The court accepted that legal argument and found violations.

The two examples involved a lawyer and shaman Jeon Seong-bae. Yoon said he had never introduced a lawyer to a former tax official. He also denied meeting Jeon with his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The court found that both statements conflicted with what had actually happened.

The case shows the possible consequences of a serious election-law conviction. Yoon received 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for three years. If finalized, the conviction would invalidate his election and require the People Power Party to return reimbursed campaign expenses.

South Korea’s system reimburses political parties for presidential campaign expenses when their candidate receives at least 15 percent of the vote. The rule helps qualifying parties recover campaign costs after an election. Yoon’s party received reimbursement after his victory in the 2022 election.

The system also has a repayment rule. If the candidate later receives a finalized sentence involving a fine of at least 1 million won for an election-law violation, the party must return the reimbursed funds. The article identifies this as the mechanism behind the possible repayment in Yoon’s case.

The People Power Party would have to return 39.7 billion won if Yoon’s conviction becomes final. The lower court sentenced him to 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for three years. His appeal remains pending before the Seoul High Court.