Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-Myung, attends a hearing at the Suwon High Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, on May 12, 2025, over her alleged election law violations. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SUWON, South Korea, May 12 (Korea Bizwire) — An appellate court on Monday upheld a lower court’s ruling that sentenced the wife of Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to a fine of 1.5 million won (US$1,068) on charges of election law violations.
The Suwon High Court handed down the sentence for Kim Hye-kyung, who was indicted for allegedly providing meals worth 104,000 won to the wives of three former and current party lawmakers, and three of her aides at a restaurant in Seoul in August 2021.
In November, a district court found Kim guilty of colluding with her secretary in using a corporate card from the Gyeonggi provincial government, where her husband was governor at the time, to pay for the meals.
Kim’s side appealed that ruling, saying she was not aware that her secretary had paid for the meals and believed the bill had been split among the participants.
However, the appeals court said the defendant seems to have “overlooked or tolerated” the fact that her secretary paid for the meals, noting the meeting had been hosted to help Lee’s bid in his party’s primaries ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
Under the Public Official Election Act, a sentence of a 1 million-won fine or more bars the defendant from running for office or campaigning for election for five years.
Kim’s sentence is unlikely to be finalized before the June 3 presidential election, however, in the event it is appealed to the Supreme Court, allowing her to help Lee’s campaign.
(Yonhap)
