Seoul court upholds ex-president Yoon's election conviction — SkimNews
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- Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to an 18-month suspended term for violating election laws by spreading disinformation during his campaign, including false claims about his ties to a shaman, a verdict upheld by the Seoul High Court on November 4.
- Seoul High Court affirmed the lower court's finding that Yoon, as a candidate, had a duty to provide accurate information and instead disseminated falsehoods, with the judge criticizing his consistent use of excuses throughout the trial.
- People Power Party may be required to return 39.7 billion won ($29.6 million) to the National Election Commission if the Supreme Court upholds the conviction, a sum equal to roughly one-third of the party's declared assets.
- National Election Commission rules mandate repayment of public campaign funds if a candidate is fined over 1 million won for election offenses, a threshold met by Yoon’s conviction, potentially invalidating his 2022 presidential victory.
- Yoon Suk Yeol has already been sentenced to life imprisonment for insurrection following his December 2024 martial law declaration, which involved deploying troops to shut down parliament before lawmakers voted it down.
Why it matters: The ruling forces the People Power Party to confront a $29.6 million repayment that would severely strain its finances, while the invalidation of Yoon’s election win would mark a rare reversal of a presidential mandate under South Korea’s campaign finance rules. This adds legal and financial consequence to a political downfall already cemented by his life sentence for insurrection.
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