Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Chair Lee Jae-myung of the primary opposition Democratic Get together of Korea, attends a sentencing listening to in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. (Yonhap)
A regional courtroom on Thursday fined the spouse of opposition chief Lee Jae-myung 1.5 million received ($1,070) for offering free meals throughout her husband’s run within the social gathering main to pick out the candidate for the 2022 presidential election.
Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Democratic Get together of Korea Chair Lee, was indicted after offering meals value 104,000 received to the wives of three former and present social gathering lawmakers and three of her aides at a restaurant in Seoul in August 2021, shortly after Lee declared his bid for the social gathering election.
A company card from the Gyeonggi Province authorities, of which Lee was governor on the time, was allegedly used for the fee.
The Suwon District Courtroom discovered Kim responsible of getting her secretary, surnamed Bae, pay for the meals along with her “permission” and imposed the advantageous.
“(The crime) seems to pose dangers to the equity and transparency of elections,” the courtroom mentioned, chiding Kim for “denying the crime and passing the accountability onto Bae.”
The prosecution had demanded a 3 million received advantageous for Kim.
Kim’s lawyer mentioned she would attraction the ruling, calling it a “responsible conviction based mostly on assumption.”
If finalized, Kim could be restricted from collaborating in election campaigns for 5 years beneath the Public Official Election Act, which bans such actions for individuals who have been fined 1 million received or extra. This might limit her campaigning for her husband ought to he run within the subsequent presidential election.
