Top court strips lawmaker of seat for defamation

(ATTN: UPDATES headline, throughout)
SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court stripped an independent lawmaker of
his legislative seat on Thursday, affirming an appeals court's verdict that found
him guilty of defaming his rival during the parliamentary election race.
Rep. Lee Moo-young was fined 3 million won (US$2,206) on charges of spreading
false rumors against his rival in the run-up to the April vote. A jail term or a
fine of more than 1 million won automatically nullifies a parliamentary seat
according to the election law.
In a television debate weeks before the vote, Lee argued that his rival candidate
of the Democratic Party, Chang Young-dal, "was put in jail for seven years not
because he engaged in democracy movement but because he raised the theory of
South Korea's invasion of the North" as the cause of the Korean War.
A district court found him guilty, saying "Even though Rep. Lee claims that it
was a slip of the tongue, considering he made the remarks repetitively, it seems
evident that he had an intention to deal a blow to Chang."
The verdict was upheld by the appeals court and, on Thursday, the top court
upheld it.
Lee, who has no party affiliation, was the first lawmaker to lose his seat among
the 34 lawmakers standing trial for violating the election law. The unicameral
assembly has 299 members.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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