Cheonan’s Mayor Park Sang-don, who is facing charges of violating election laws, is at risk of losing his position following a suspended prison sentence in a retrial. On the 17th, the Daejeon High Court’s 1st Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Park Jin-hwan) sentenced Mayor Park to six months in prison with a two-year suspension during the announced retrial for violating public election laws. Although this is a reduction from the one-year prison term with a two-year suspension announced by the appellate court, he could not avoid a suspended prison sentence.
Mayor Park was indicted for allegedly spreading false information by stating in promotional materials and election flyers during the 2022 local election that Cheonan’s employment rate was the second highest nationwide and the unemployment rate the lowest. He was also accused of using the public officials’ organization to create and upload election promotional videos to his personal YouTube account.
If an elected official is convicted of violating election laws and the sentence involves a fine of at least 1 million won, they will lose their elected position and be disqualified.