Jeon Gwang-hoon's Close Associate Provides Luxury Meals to 450 Monks Before General Election... Suspended Sentence

[Financial News] A close associate of Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, who was put on trial for providing expensive meals to monks to solicit support before the general election, was sentenced to a suspended prison term.
According to the legal community on the 30th, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 23 (Presiding Judge Oh Se-yong) sentenced Pastor A, the representative of the conservative group 'National Movement Headquarters for Establishing Korea Properly (Dae-guk-bon)', to one year in prison with a two-year suspension for violating the Public Official Election Act. Dae-guk-bon was fined 1 million won.
The same sentence was given to Monk B, who belonged to a temple in Seoul and was also indicted, while others involved in the event received fines or suspended sentences.
Mr. A was known as a close associate of Pastor Jeon, who led the election campaign committee for the Liberty Unification Party in the 22nd National Assembly election last year. He was accused of holding a dharma meeting targeting monks and Buddhist believers with Mr. B, under the condition that Dae-guk-bon would cover all costs for venue and equipment rental and meal provision to induce support for the Liberty Unification Party.
In mid-March 2023, Mr. A contacted an audio equipment rental company to request equipment installation and signed a contract that included meal costs for 450 people (120,000 won per person). On the 16th of the same month, Mr. B guided monks to the dining location.
They held a dharma meeting at a banquet hall in Sogong-dong, Seoul, on March 20, and reportedly made statements such as "If the Juche faction of Lee Jae-myung unites and becomes 200 seats, Korea is over," "Currently, we are ruined because of Lee Jae-myung. To be more specific, we are ruined because of Han Dong-hoon," and "So we must rise in the name of the Liberty Unification Party."
This dharma meeting was held 8 days before March 28, when election campaigns are allowed, thus constituting 'pre-election campaigning' under the Public Official Election Act. Additionally, providing meals worth a total of 54.24 million won to 452 attendees violated the 'prohibition of donation acts' clause.
The court stated, "It is recognized that Mr. A and Mr. B engaged in pre-election campaigning with the intention of influencing the general election by appealing for support at the dharma meeting in explicit or implicit communication with Liberty Unification Party officials." The court acknowledged the 'systematic connection' based on the close relationship between Dae-guk-bon, Liberty Unification Party, and Pastor Jeon, repeated joint rallies, and inducement of party membership.
Furthermore, the court noted that Mr. B continued to participate in existing rallies and declared his entry into the Liberty Unification Party with other monks on March 22, shortly after the dharma meeting, indicating that "Mr. B intended to make this dharma meeting appear as a declaration of support for the Liberty Unification Party by the Buddhist community."
The court also pointed out that some monks who attended the dharma meeting received 300,000 won as 'travel expenses', which "exceeded the usual level of transportation costs."
The court criticized, "This donation act was essentially a donation for the Liberty Unification Party by Mr. A through the organization Dae-guk-bon, which supported various expenses needed for the dharma meeting," adding that it "undermines the trust of the general public in public elections and political activities." However, it considered the fact that some of the crimes were confessed and that the event was held just before the start of the election campaign. Both sides appealed the ruling.

scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter