Minority Party Lawmaker Gets Prison Sentence

A lawmaker from the minor Renewal of Korea Party, Lee Han-jeong, was given yesterday a three-year prison term after being convicted of making illegal donations to the party in exchange for a proportional representative slot.

The Suwon District Court sentenced Lee to two years in prison for bribery and one year for fabricating his academic credentials.

“Lee gave funds to the Renewal of Korea Party with the obvious aim of securing a proportional representative seat,” the ruling said. “Though the money was used to issue party bonds, it doesn’t negate the criminality of the action.”

“Given he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating election law in the 16th general elections and committed a similar crime in the 18th general elections, he deserves a prison term.”

The party’s former finance director also got eight months in prison for violating election law.

With the court ruling, party chairman Moon Kook-hyun could face indictment for accepting illegal funds from Lee regardless of the result of a parliamentary vote for Moon’s arrest.

bibulus@donga.com