Lee Hwa-young Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Perjury Regarding 'Alcohol Party' Allegations; Acquitted of Political Funds Act Charges

[Anchor]

Lee Hwa-young, former Vice Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, has been sentenced to four months in prison for perjury after claiming that a so-called "salmon and alcohol party" took place inside a prosecutor's office. He was acquitted of charges related to the Political Funds Act, while charges of abuse of power regarding North Korea support projects were dismissed.

Reporter Shin Yong-il has the story.

[Reporter]

The court has ruled that the testimony given by former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young to the National Assembly, alleging that a "salmon and alcohol party" occurred during the prosecution's investigation, was false.

The Suwon District Court's 11th Criminal Division, taking into account the opinion of a jury that deliberated overnight, found Lee guilty of violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal Before the National Assembly and sentenced him to four months in prison.

Four out of the seven jurors concluded that Lee was not provided with alcohol by the prosecution in 2023. The court also ruled that Lee's testimony lacked consistency and credibility, leading to the guilty verdict.

On the other hand, regarding the charge of violating the Political Funds Act—alleging that Lee instigated "split donations" to the support committee for Lee Jae-myung, who was a presidential primary candidate for the Democratic Party at the time—the court accepted the jury's unanimous opinion and acquitted him.

Furthermore, the court dismissed the charges of abuse of power, which alleged that Lee forced public officials to perform duties they were not obligated to do during Gyeonggi Province's North Korea support projects, such as the provision of tree saplings, citing an abuse of prosecutorial authority.

Previously, the prosecution had demanded a sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 5 million won, arguing that all charges against the former vice governor were substantiated.

The jury trial for this case, which ran for ten days excluding weekends from the 8th to yesterday (June 19), has been recorded as the longest trial since the relevant law was enacted in 2008.

Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who was at the center of the "salmon and alcohol party" allegations, stated on his social media that he was grateful for the jury's wise decision. Meanwhile, Lee's legal team stated that the ruling stemmed from an unjust indictment and announced plans to appeal.

(Video Editing: Jung Yong-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.