Special counsel seeks to uphold sentence invalidating Yoon's presidential election win

A special counsel team on Tuesday asked an appeals court to uphold a sentence that would invalidate former President Yoon Suk Yeol's election victory on charges of making false statements during his presidential campaign.

The team, led by Min Joong-ki, asked the Seoul High Court to dismiss Yoon's appeal during the final hearing of his trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

A lower court previously found the ousted president guilty of all charges and handed down a suspended prison sentence. If upheld and finalized, the ruling would invalidate Yoon's presidential election victory and require the People Power Party (PPP) to return 39.7 billion won ($29.6 million) in campaign expenses reimbursed following the presidential election.

Under the Public Official Election Act, presidential candidates who receive at least 15 percent of the vote are entitled to full reimbursement of campaign expenses by the National Election Commission. But if a candidate is convicted of an election-related offense after winning and sentenced to a fine of at least 1 million won or a heavier penalty, the election victory is invalidated and the candidate's party must return the reimbursement.

"Various allegations subsided following the defendant's statements cited in the indictment during the 20th presidential election, which allowed the defendant to maintain his position as a leading presidential candidate," the special counsel team said. "Considering the approval rating trends at the time, the election results and the margin between the candidates, it is reasonable to conclude that the offenses affected the outcome of the election."

The special counsel team also argued that Yoon made false statements concerning matters that could significantly influence voters' judgments of him, particularly amid ongoing allegations involving his wife and the couple's ties to Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman known as Geonjin Beopsa.

"Nevertheless, the defendant continues to mislead the public and the court, repeatedly changing his account even during the trial," the team said.

Yoon was found guilty by a lower court of making false statements during an interview at the inaugural ceremony of the Buddhist Leaders Forum on Jan. 17, 2022, while he was the PPP presidential candidate. He was charged with claiming that he had been introduced to the shaman by a party official and had never met Jeon together with his wife, Kim Keon Hee, with the court ruling that the former president falsely denied ties to Jeon, who had drawn scrutiny over his potential influence on Yoon's presidential campaign.

Yoon was also charged with making false statements during a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club on Dec. 14, 2021, with the court determining that he denied introducing an attorney surnamed Lee, a former member of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department, to Yoon Woo-jin, a former head of the Yongsan Tax Office. The charge centered on suspicions that Yoon introduced the lawyer to the tax office head, who was under investigation for corruption.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]