Minor opposition leader spared jail term for 'selling' parliament seat

SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- The head of the minor opposition Renewal of Korea Party
was convicted of violating election law but spared a jail term on Friday for
trading the party's legislative seat for cash.
The Seoul Central District Court handed down an eight-month jail term, suspended
for two years, to Rep. Moon Kook-hyun, noting that he accepted the illicit
donation but used it for the party's election campaign and not for his own
personal use.
Prosecutors sought a two-and-a-half year prison sentence, charging Moon with
accepting 600 million won (US$406,917) from a fellow party member, Rep. Lee
Han-jung, in exchange for a proportional seat almost certain to be allocated to
the party after the April parliamentary election.
Under South Korean election law, a portion of the 299-member National Assembly
consists of non-regional seats that are alloted to political parties according to
the proportion of nationwide votes they receive. The system aims to promote the
presence of minority groups like women and the disabled in the legislature.
"The defendant's behavior is a major setback to the realization of representative
democracy," Judge Lee Gwang-man said. He noted, however, that a "special measure
to fund election costs was necessary" for Moon's budding party and the money was
openly used for the election.
Rep. Lee was originally sentenced to three years in prison by a district court,
though the sentence was lowered to two-and-a-half years by the court of appeals.
If the Supreme Court upholds his jail sentence, he will be stripped of his seat.
The minority party currently has two members in the National Assembly, held by
Moon and Lee.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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