Yoo Jeong-bok, Incheon Mayor. © News1 reporter Lee Seung-bae
(Incheon = News1) Reporter Park So-young = The official trial for Yoo Jeong-bok, the Incheon Mayor, who was indicted for illegal electioneering during the People’s Power presidential primary for the 21st presidential election, will be held on the 15th of next month.
The Incheon District Court’s Criminal Division 15 (Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-heon) held the fourth pre-trial hearing on the morning of the 23rd for Yoo, who is indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, along with seven others including former and current officials.
The court stated, “We will proceed with all procedures on Friday, May 15th, at 2 p.m.” and added, “It seems it won’t take long as it will be a final arrangement such as the confirmation hearing.”
Yoo’s defense attorney requested a postponement of the official trial, but the court responded, “We cannot proceed with the trial in May.” The court also urged, “All defendants must appear on the specified date.”
Previously, Yoo’s attorney requested that the official trial be held after the local elections. The court plans to complete all procedures before the election period (May 21~June 2), followed by a focused examination of key witnesses. The all-procedure includes a confirmation hearing and the first trial process where the defendants’ confirmation of charges takes place.
At the second pre-trial hearing on February 26, Yoo’s defense denied the prosecution’s charges. The attorney stated, “Yoo only posted a portion of the promotional materials on SNS, and the rest was uploaded by lower-level officials without his direction.” Regarding the SNS posts that Yoo admitted to uploading, the defense added, “It wasn’t intended for electoral purposes.”
Yoo, along with three others including an Incheon City Hall secretary and promotional planning office officials, was indicted for posting 116 items related to the intra-party primary or presidential election on Yoo’s SNS account from April 9 to 21 last year. The current Public Official Election Act prohibits electioneering and primary campaigning by incumbent public officials.
Yoo is also charged with sending approximately 1.8 million voice messages containing his election slogan “Unexpected Battle” to voters on April 20, the day before the People’s Power first public opinion poll, along with his campaign legal team leader A and volunteer B.
Additionally, former Incheon City Hall Chief Public Information Officer C is charged with publishing promotional advertisements in 10 newspapers on April 21, the day of the first public opinion poll, including Yoo’s autobiography photos, reviews by politicians and officials, and his profile.
According to Article 270 of the Public Official Election Act, for election-related cases, the first trial must be sentenced within six months from the indictment, and the second and third trials within three months from the previous judgment. Based on this regulation, the verdict for Yoo’s case, which was indicted last November, should be delivered before the local elections.