Candidate 'blacklisting' ruled illegal

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a coalition of civic groups called the Citizens Alliance for General Elections violated the Election Law by waging a campaign last year to "blacklist" certain candidates.

Appellate court judges dismissed a suit filed by Lee Su-Won, 40, head of the Ulsan branch of the People¡¯s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), and Kim Tae-Keun, 35, its secretary-general, and ordered them to pay fines of 3 million won each.

Lee and Kim were indicted without physical detention for waging a blacklist campaign in the run up to the April 13 general elections against candidates they considered unfit for public posts.

Observers said the ruling was a demonstration of the court¡¯s will to establish a culture of fair elections by strictly interpreting the law.

The decision is also expected to affect many other similar cases that are pending in local court.

¡±Lee and Kim did not wage the campaign for personal gain, but it is clear that they violated the law which bans holding 'negative' campaign rallies in downtown areas,¡± the chief judge said in the ruling. "The blacklisting campaign was not only a violation of the law, but also hindered the ability of authorities to control election management. We cannot accept any debate on the constitutionality of the election law."