Yoon handed suspended sentence for making false statements during campaign
The court ruled that the ousted president had "infringed on voters' ability to make informed decisions" in a ruling that may require the People Power Party to pay back election expense reimbursements.
A TV at Seoul Station in central Seoul shows a live broadcast of Yoon Suk Yeol's ruling of his election law violation case on July 27.NEWS1
Ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol received a suspended prison sentence Monday as a local court convicted him in a trial over an election law violation, potentially putting the People Power Party (PPP) on the hook for 39.7 billion won ($27 million).
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, finding him guilty of making false statements during the campaign.
Should the ruling be upheld through appeals, the opposition may be required to return funds to the National Election Commission (NEC), which issued reimbursements for campaign expenses in Yoon's 2022 election.
In its ruling, the court said, "The court finds that the defendant's conduct infringed on voters' ability to make informed decisions," while also finding that Yoon's remarks during the 20th presidential election constituted false statements.
“The statement about the former chief of the National Tax Service’s Yongsan district office, Yoon Woo-jin, amounts to false statements about matters related to a candidate's qualifications,” the court said. “The defendant was aware that his statements differed from the objective facts.”
The court ruled that the ex-president did, in fact, introduce attorney Lee Nam-seok to the Yongsan tax office chief in December 2021 despite denying it, citing a text message that Lee sent to the tax office head, which reads: "I am reaching out in advance at Yoon Suk Yeol's request."
Jeon Seong-bae, known as shaman Geonjin, attends a questioning session by a special counsel probe team in central Seoul on Aug. 21, 2025.NEWS1
The court also concluded that the former president intentionally made false statements regarding shaman Jeon Seong-bae, widely known as the Geonjin.
"Yoon intentionally made false statements at a time when your approval ratings were being affected by controversy over alleged shamanistic influence,” the court said.
The court also dismissed Yoon Suk Yeol's claim that his remarks about Jeon amounted only to an expression of opinion and therefore could not constitute false statements.
"Yoon intentionally made false statements at a time when his approval ratings were being affected by controversy over alleged shamanistic influence,” the court said.
The People Power Party headquarters in western Seoul on July 27YONHAP
The suspended prison sentence also puts the PPP at risk of owing approximately 39.7 billion won in election expenses to the NEC.
Candidates whose elections are invalidated because of election-related crimes must return both their election deposit and all campaign expenses reimbursed by the commission under the Public Official Election Act.
If an appeals court or the Supreme Court upholds Monday’s ruling, the PPP will have to return an amount equivalent to roughly one-third of its reported assets, which totaled about 119.8 billion won in 2024.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
