Oh Shi-Deok Loses His Seat, the Supreme Court Upholds the Ruling for Penalty

The Supreme Court (Justice Lee Gyu-hong) upheld the lower court’s ruling on January 27 that the ruling Uri Party’s lawmaker Oh Shi-deok (Gongju-Yeongi, Chungnam Province, in the picture), charged in violation of the Election for Public Office and Election Malpractice Prevention Act, be fined 15 million won in penalty.

Lawmaker Oh will lose his seat according to the election law that specifies, “The election is nullified if the elected is sentenced for jail terms or penalty of more than one million won.” Consequently, the number of Uri Party’s seats in the National Assembly drops to 149 (attending members comprising 297 seats).

Two more losses will bring the number of Uri Party’s seats down to 147, which is below half (148 seats) of that of the attending members (295 seats).

jin0619@donga.com