1-Year Prison Term Upheld for Former Gyeongbuk Provincial Councilor Park Chang-wook Over 'Geonjin Pubsa' Nomination Lobbying

Former Gyeongbuk Provincial Councilor Park Chang-wook, who handed over 100 million won while lobbying Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman known as "Geonjin Pubsa," for a People Power Party nomination ahead of the June 1 local elections in 2022, has had a prison sentence finalized for violating real-name financial transaction laws during the process of raising the funds.

The Supreme Court's Third Division (presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) finalized the lower court's ruling sentencing the former councilor to one year in prison, upholding his conviction for violating the Real Name Financial Transactions and Guarantee Act.

Ahead of the 2022 local elections, Park was indicted in September of last year by a special prosecutor team led by Min Joong-ki on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. He was accused of lobbying Jeon through a broker surnamed Kim and delivering Korean beef gifts and 100 million won in cash to Jeon once his nomination was confirmed.

He was also charged with violating the Real Name Financial Transactions and Guarantee Act for conspiring with his spouse, Seol, to borrow 100 million won from an acquaintance to raise the funds for Jeon, and then having the money "split-remitted" into accounts under the names of local village residents to hide the source before withdrawing it in cash.

The first and second-instance courts found him not guilty of violating the Political Funds Act.

Although it was recognized that Park delivered 100 million won in cash to Jeon in exchange for nomination lobbying, the court reasoned that it was difficult to view Jeon as a "person engaged in political activities" under the Political Funds Act, or to consider the funds as "political funds."

Regarding the June 1 local elections, the court judged that there were no circumstances showing Jeon had been involved in election campaigns for a specific candidate, either officially or unofficially.

The charge of violating the Real Name Financial Transactions and Guarantee Act was upheld in both the second trial, following the first.

The second-instance tribunal rebuked Park, stating, "Despite having a grave duty as a provincial council candidate to reflect the public will in provincial administration with an upright attitude, he attempted to distort the public will during the election process, making the case light. Furthermore, it is questionable whether he is truly reflecting on his actions, given that he offered incomprehensible excuses during the investigation and trial process."

Both the former councilor and the special counsel appealed, but the Supreme Court's decision remained the same.

Park's spouse, Seol, who was indicted together, also had her sentence finalized at six months in prison suspended for two years on charges of violating the Real Name Financial Transactions and Guarantee Act.

The broker surnamed Kim was acquitted of charges related to nomination lobbying, but had a one-year-and-four-month prison term finalized on charges of violating the Attorney Act for receiving valuables and cash from a construction company in exchange for mediating a construction project commissioned by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) through Jeon.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.