Appeals court to rule on ex-President Yoon's high-stakes election law case

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- An appeals court was set to rule Wednesday on former President Yoon Suk Yeol's election law violation case in a ruling that could force the main opposition party to cough up nearly US$30 million in election expenses, if finalized.

The Seoul High Court was scheduled to hold the hearing at 2 p.m., which will be televised live, over allegations that Yoon made false statements during his presidential campaign as a candidate for the PPP before his March 2022 election.

A district court sentenced Yoon to an 18-month prison term, suspended for three years, in July after finding him guilty of the charges.

If the sentence is finalized through appeals, Yoon's election will be nullified and the People Power Party will be forced to return its reimbursed election expenses of 39.7 billion won ($29.5 million).

Under the election law, the state fully reimburses political parties for campaign spending if their candidate wins at least 15 percent of the vote.

Parties, however, must return all reimbursed funds if the candidate receives a finalized prison sentence or a fine of at least 1 million won for election law violations -- a penalty that also voids their election.

Yoon was charged with falsely claiming during a December 2021 press event that he had not introduced a lawyer to a former tax official -- a brother of Yoon's close associate when he was a prosecutor.

He also faces charges of lying in a January 2022 interview by claiming that a party official had introduced him to shaman Jeon Seong-bae while denying that he and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, had met Jeon together.

The jailed former president has been standing multiple criminal trials since his failed bid to impose martial law in December 2024 and his subsequent ouster from office.

A district court sentenced him to life in prison in February for leading an insurrection through his martial law bid. That trial is currently under review by an appellate court.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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