South Korean lawmaker loses seat over church-linked funds
· UPIJuly 16 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a two-year prison sentence for former People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong for accepting 100 million won ($66,300) in illegal political funds from a Unification Church official.
The ruling immediately cost Kweon his seat in the National Assembly.
The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Eom Sang-pil, upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Kweon to two years in prison and ordered him to forfeit 100 million won ($66,300).
Under South Korea's Political Funds Act, a lawmaker loses office when a fine of at least 1 million won is finalized for illegally accepting political funds.
The Supreme Court said the lower court had not violated rules of logic and experience or exceeded the limits of judicial discretion in assessing the evidence.
It also rejected Kweon's arguments concerning the relevance of evidence obtained through search warrants, the exclusion of illegally obtained evidence, his right to cross-examine witnesses and the legal requirements for establishing a violation of the Political Funds Act.
Kweon was indicted on charges of receiving 100 million won ($66,300) from Yoon Young-ho, a former director-general of the Unification Church's international headquarters, in January 2022 ahead of South Korea's presidential election.
Prosecutors said the money was provided in exchange for political favors.
Both the trial and appellate courts sentenced Kweon to two years in prison and ordered him to forfeit the money. The courts said he had violated the constitutional duty of integrity required of members of the National Assembly.
The Supreme Court last Thursday also finalized an 18-month prison sentence for Yoon, who was convicted of providing the money to Kweon.
-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260716010006088