3 lawmakers face ouster for election crimes

Three lawmakers are at risk of losing their seats in the National Assembly for violations of election law committed in the April 2000 general election. The Seoul High Court on Tuesday imposed fines on them in excess of the 1 million won ($790) threshold.

At the hearing on appeals filed by nine lawmakers, Jung In-bong, of the opposition Grand National Party, was fined 3 million won. You Sung-keun, of the same party, was fined 2.5 million won, and Park Yong-ho of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party was assessed 3.5 million won. Should the rulings be upheld by the Supreme Court, the three lawmakers will lose their seats at the National Assembly. All three said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Election law stipulates that a National Assembly member's seat is forfeit if he is fined more than 1 million won or the lawmaker's campaign manager, accountant or any direct family member is sentenced to prison.

The court lowered fines that had been imposed on Lee Hee-kyu of the ruling party and Kim Boo-kyum and Shim Jae-chul of the Grand National Party from more than 1 million won to 800,000 won, thus saving their seats. Moon Hee-sang, a ruling-party lawmaker, also saved his seat; his wife had been sentenced a prison term by a trial court but the court lowered the punishment to a fine of 3 million won.

Findings against Ahn Young-keun and Nam Kyung-pil of the Grand National Party were allowed to stand; the two had been fined less than 1 million won.

The Grand National Party is concerned about the prospective loss of two seats; currently it occupies 136 seats in the National Assembly, one short of a majority. "Since prosecutors investigated the cases unfairly from the initial stage of the indictment, we anticipate a fair ruling at the Supreme Court," Chang Kwang-keun, vice spokesman of the Grand National Party, said.

The ruling Millennium Democratic Party will also await the ruling of the Supreme Court, spokesman Lee Nak-yon said.

by Kim Seung-hyun