A Seoul court on Thursday handed down prison terms for two former party campaign officials of the minor opposition People’s Party for offering a fake tip to tarnish then-liberal candidate Moon Jae-in’s campaign in the lead-up to the presidential election in May. 

The Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Lee Joon-seo, a former member of the party’s supreme council, to eight months in prison and sentenced Lee Yoo-mi, a rank-and-file member of the party, to one year in jail, for violating election law and spreading false information.

Lee Joon-seo, former campaign manager for the party’s presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, was sent to trial for ordering party member Lee to obtain evidence to back allegations that President Moon’s son Moon Joon-yong had landed a full-time job at a state-run agency due to his father’s influence as then a senior presidential aide.

Lee Yoo-mi, former campaigner for Ahn, allegedly teamed up with his brother to make the fake recordings to implicate Moon’s son. She admitted to fabricating the evidence and handing it over to Lee Joon-seo. Her brother was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for two years.

“Spreading false information poses a danger to voters making the right decision, and violates the fairness and transparency of the election, which are the basis of a liberal country,” the court said.

Two other high-ranking members of Ahn’s campaign team -- lawyer Kim In-won and former lawmaker Kim Seong-ho -- were ordered to pay 5 million won ($4,600) and 10 million won, respectively, for making the fake recording file public without verifying its authenticity.

At the height of the presidential campaign, the People’s Party accused Moon, who was leading the presidential race, of abusing power by presenting captured images of chats on a mobile messenger and an audiotape. In the audiotape, a person claiming to be a friend of Moon’s son testified that Moon’s son received special treatment in the hiring process of the state-run agency in 2006 with his father’s help.

The person turned out to be party member Lee’s brother.

The People’s Party’s candidate Ahn lost to Moon in the election.

The People’s Party later admitted it had used a fabricated audiotape to damage the Moon campaign and offered an apology for the false allegations.

The minor party in July proposed a special investigation into allegations against Moon’s son, we well as the fabricated tip. An internal probe committee of the People’s Party had concluded that the fabrication was a lone act by party member Lee.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)