**Violation of Public Official Election Act**
**Fined 900,000 KRW in First and Second Trials**
**Supreme Court Confirms Ruling… Maintains Position**
**[Herald Economic = Reporter An Se-yeon]** Kim Moon-soo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gokseong, and Gurye, who was charged with publicizing his own poll results on social media ahead of the general election, has been fined 900,000 KRW. As a result, Kim maintains his parliamentary seat.
The 2nd division of the Supreme Court (presided over by Justice Park Young-jae) confirmed the appellate court’s ruling that fined Representative Kim 900,000 KRW for violating the Public Official Election Act. A fine of 1 million KRW or more results in the loss of parliamentary seat.
Representative Kim faced allegations for a post on January 9th of last year on social media, where he disclosed the results of his own polling ahead of the general election. He hinted at high favorability from his survey with remarks like “That’s what I expected.” He also attached a graph from a similar poll conducted by a broadcasting company in September 2023.
According to the Public Official Election Act, it is prohibited to publish or report the results of an election-related poll until the end of voting on election day. Penalties include imprisonment for up to three years or fines up to 6 million KRW.
During the trial, Kim claimed he was innocent. His defense argued that although a post with the survey results from a broadcasting company was published, it did not explicitly mention the poll results or the election situation. They claimed it didn’t constitute poll result disclosure and there was no intent to violate the law.
The first and second trial courts did not accept this defense. The Criminal Division 1 of Suncheon Branch of the Gwangju District Court, presided by Chief Judge Kim Yong-gyu, sentenced Kim to a 900,000 KRW fine last January.
The first trial court stated, “Publicizing self-conducted poll results banned by election laws means notifying an unspecified majority, regardless of means or method.” It was judged that even though Kim did not explicitly state figures or rankings, the post and graph together allowed voters to infer the preference.
However, considering the low awareness of wrongdoing and less significant impact on the election, the court opted for a fine under the threshold for invalid election results. The decision was also influenced by Kim deleting the post promptly after receiving contact from the election commission.
After the sentencing, Kim stated, “I reflect on my mistakes and will work harder to repay the citizens.”
Although the prosecutor appealed, the second trial at the Gwangju High Court’s Criminal Division 1, led by Chief Judge Kim Jin-hwan, also opted for a 900,000 KRW fine last June.
In the second trial, Kim still claimed he had no intent to break the law, but this was not accepted. The appellate court noted, “Even if he was unaware that his action was against the election law, this is similar to ignorance of the law and does not exclude the awareness of wrongdoing.”
The Supreme Court shared the lower court’s views, confirming that there was no misinterpretation of the law, thereby finalizing the 900,000 KRW fine.