Two ruling party lawmakers fined for election law violation

SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) -- Two ruling party legislators were convicted Thursday of election law violations but were saved from losing their parliamentary seats.

Rep. Park Jin of the Grand National Party, chairman of the parliamentary
committee on foreign affairs, trade and unification, was found guilty of
pre-election campaigning by a Seoul District Court.
The 52-year-old lawmaker was sentenced to a 700,000-won (US$500) fine.
He will be allowed to keep his parliamentary seat despite his conviction unless
he is sentenced to a prison term or a fine greater than 1 million won following
appeals by the prosecution.
Park was earlier indicted on suspicions that he had campaigned at a meeting of
residents from his election district in January, nearly three months before the
general elections were held. Campaigning before the 15-day period leading up to
parliamentary elections is strictly prohibited.
The prosecution earlier sought a 1 million-won ($716) fine for Park, which would
have unseated the third-term lawmaker.
"His participation in the meeting is definitely an election pre-campaign,
considering his remarks at the meeting," the court said.
The court, however, said it was inclined to lower his punishment as Park did not
seek to "actively" campaign for his election, noting the meeting was organized
by others and that his participation only came at an invitation from the
organizers.
Meanwhile, an appellate court upheld an earlier ruling convicting Rep. Hong
Jung-wook of the ruling party for election law violations.
A former president of a local daily newspaper, Hong was convicted of falsifying
his degree from Harvard University during his election campaign.
The Seoul High Court, however, lowered the fines to 300,000 won ($215), down from
the 800,000 won ($574) fine originally sentenced by the lower court.