Politics · South Korea · 2 hrs ago
Prosecutors seek to uphold Yoon’s election-invalidating sentence
Prosecutors asked the court to uphold Yoon Suk Yeol’s sentence in his appeal over statements made during South Korea’s 2022 presidential election.
The former president was convicted at trial of making false claims about meeting a shaman with his wife and introducing a lawyer to a former tax official under police investigation.
The first court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, and Yoon has denied wrongdoing.
The special counsel team says the statements concerned issues voters considered important and could have affected the election.
The appeals court is due to rule on October 27.
If the sentence is upheld and becomes final, Yoon’s election would be invalidated.
The People Power Party would then have to repay 39.7 billion won in campaign costs reimbursed after the election.
A special prosecutor’s team asked an appeals court to uphold former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s sentence for making false statements during his presidential campaign.
The team requested a prison term of 18 months, suspended for three years, matching the first-instance sentence.
Yoon denied wrongdoing and argued that his remarks had been misinterpreted.
The appeals court is due to announce its ruling on October 27.
If the sentence becomes final, Yoon’s election would be invalidated and the People Power Party would have to return 39.7 billion won in reimbursed campaign costs.
- Who
- Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and the special prosecutor’s team investigating allegations related to Kim Keon Hee.
- What
- Prosecutors asked the appeals court to reject Yoon’s appeal and uphold a sentence of 18 months in prison, suspended for three years.
- When
- The appeal hearing was held on October 13, 2026. The ruling is scheduled for October 27.
- Where
- Seoul High Court, South Korea.
- Why
- Yoon was convicted of making false statements during his 2022 presidential campaign; prosecutors argued the statements affected voters’ assessment of him.
Special prosecutor’s team
Yoon Suk Yeol
Effect of the statements
Special prosecutor’s team
The team argued that Yoon’s statements concerned matters important to voters and affected the election result.
Yoon Suk Yeol
Yoon said his statements were not false and that his words had been misinterpreted.
Appeal
Special prosecutor’s team
The team asked the court to reject Yoon’s appeal and uphold the first-instance sentence.
Yoon Suk Yeol
Yoon sought acquittal, saying he did not introduce a lawyer to a former tax official in a legal sense and disputing the interpretation of his remarks about a shaman.
Yoon spoke at a Kwanhun Club forum about whether he had introduced a lawyer to former Yongsan tax office chief Yoon Woo-jin.
Yoon said he had not met shaman Jeon Seong-bae with his wife after being introduced by a party official.
A first-instance court sentenced Yoon to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years.
Prosecutors asked the appeals court to reject Yoon’s appeal and uphold the sentence.
The appeals court is scheduled to announce its ruling.
- Requested sentence
- 18 months in prison, suspended for three years
- Appeals hearing
- October 13, 2026
- Scheduled ruling
- October 27
- Campaign costs at issue
- 39.7 billion won
- Election
- South Korea’s 20th presidential election
What people are saying
The crime in this case should be considered to have affected the election result, in light of polling trends at the time, the election result and the vote margin.
If this is how you judge false statements and invalidate an election, why hold an election?
Sources
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