W39.7b in campaign reimbursements, deposit at stake as Yoon plans Supreme Court appeal
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday upheld former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conviction for making false statements during his campaign for the 2022 presidential election, confirming the lower court's 18-month prison sentence suspended for three years.
If the conviction and sentence become final, the main opposition People Power Party will have to return about 39.7 billion won ($29.7 million) in reimbursed campaign expenses and a refunded election deposit to the National Election Commission.
The court dismissed Yoon’s appeal and upheld his conviction on both counts: falsely denying that he had introduced a lawyer to a former tax official and making false statements about his relationship with shaman Jeon Seong-bae, including whether he and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, had met Jeon together.
Asked in a January 2022 interview whether he and Kim had met Jeon together, Yoon replied, “No, that’s not the case.” He also described his contact with Jeon as an occasion when a party official had introduced him as a Buddhist and a supporter.
The court found that Yoon’s statements contradicted facts he clearly knew.
“Voters’ right to make an informed choice was infringed, and the fairness of the election and the lawfulness of its procedures were undermined,” it said.
Yoon’s lawyers said they would appeal to the Supreme Court, calling the ruling “unjust in many respects.”
Under the Public Official Election Act, a finalized fine of at least 1 million won or a heavier penalty for relevant election offenses invalidates a candidate’s election. For a party-nominated presidential candidate, the nominating party is responsible for returning state funds.
Court rejects Yoon's explanation
The lawyer-related charge concerned Yoon’s statement at a Kwanhun Club debate in December 2021 that he had not introduced a lawyer to Yoon Woo-jin, former chief of the Yongsan Tax Office.
The former tax official is the older brother of Yoon Dae-jin, a former senior prosecutor who was a close associate of the former president.
Yoon Suk Yeol argued that he had not introduced a lawyer “in the legal sense,” meaning arranging for the lawyer to represent the tax official, and that he had not asked the lawyer to help him. Yoon Dae-jin testified that he, rather than the former president, had made the introduction.
But the appellate court said Yoon Suk Yeol’s past remarks to a journalist supported the finding that he had introduced the lawyer.
It said voters would reasonably have understood his campaign statement as denying any introduction, rather than distinguishing between connecting someone with a lawyer and arranging formal legal representation.
“Whether the defendant had introduced a lawyer to Yoon Woo-jin was important information in assessing his integrity and impartiality as a public official,” the court said.
On the Jeon-related charge, Yoon Suk Yeol argued that he had understood the question about meeting the shaman with his wife to refer to a particular occasion, rather than whether they had ever met him together.
The court rejected that explanation. It found that Yoon’s account of how he was introduced to Jeon and whether the couple had met him together was false, and that he knew it was false.
“These were matters he had personally experienced and would have clearly known, yet he made false statements,” the court said.
At the final appeal hearing on Oct. 13, special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team asked the court to dismiss Yoon’s appeal and uphold the Seoul Central District Court’s July 27 sentence.
The team argued that Yoon’s statements had helped quiet allegations surrounding him and maintain his position as a leading candidate. It said the statements should be considered to have affected the election outcome, given the close race.
Yoon narrowly defeated Lee Jae Myung in 2022. Lee later succeeded him as president after Yoon’s impeachment and removal from office.
The special counsel law calls for Supreme Court rulings within three months of the preceding court’s judgment, though the provision does not guarantee when a final ruling will be delivered.
Yoon was removed from office in April 2025, when the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment.
He also faces multiple criminal proceedings related to his Dec. 3, 2024, declaration of martial law and other allegations. In a separate case, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in February for leading an insurrection through the short-lived martial law declaration. That case is also under appeal.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
