Seoul Court Upholds Yoon Election Conviction on Appeal

The Seoul High Court on Wednesday (Nov 4) upheld former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol’s election conviction under the Public Official Election Act, a ruling that could cost his People Power Party (PPP) tens of billions of won, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

The court dismissed Yoon’s appeal on Wednesday afternoon and kept the sentence handed down by the Seoul Central District Court in July: one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years.

Two false statements during 2022 campaign

Yoon was found guilty on both counts. The first concerned his remark at the launch of a Buddhist leaders’ forum on Jan 17, 2022, that he had never met a shaman. The court found that Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee had met Jeon Seong-bae, known as Geonjin, several times.

The second count related to statements at a Kwanhun Club debate in December 2021, when Yoon denied introducing lawyer Lee Nam-seok to Yoon Woo-jin, a former chief of the Yongsan District Tax Office.

The presiding judge said Yoon had offered only excuses from the investigation through to the trial, according to JoongAng Daily. Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team had asked the court at the final hearing on Oct 13 to dismiss the appeal and keep the sentence.

Yoon election conviction puts PPP funds at risk

Under the election law, a nominating party must return reimbursed campaign costs once its candidate receives a final prison sentence, or a fine of 1 million won or more, for an election crime, the newspaper reported. For the PPP, that means 39.7 billion won (US$29.6 million), including Yoon’s 300 million won candidate deposit.

That sum is about 30 per cent of the party’s total assets, which stood at 131.5 billion won as of February, according to its accounting report cited by JoongAng Daily.

The PPP issued no statement after the ruling. One unnamed party official told the newspaper: “We are in the worst-case scenario.” Another official from the floor leadership said the party would consider options such as a loan secured against its real estate, rather than selling its headquarters in Yeouido. Party leaders have ruled out selling the building.

Appeal to the Supreme Court

Yoon’s legal team said the ruling contained many unjust aspects and that it would appeal to the Supreme Court and fight for an acquittal. The sentence becomes final only if it is upheld there.

In a report carried by The Star, AFP described the ruling as largely symbolic, as Yoon, 65, has already been sentenced to life imprisonment for insurrection after declaring martial law in December 2024. He was impeached and removed from office, and has since faced a series of criminal prosecutions, AFP said.

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