A Seoul court on Monday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for election law violations during his 2022 campaign. The ruling puts the main opposition People Power Party at risk of returning 39.7 billion won in reimbursed campaign expenses.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of false statements as the People Power Party candidate ahead of the March 2022 election. The court accepted that Yoon had introduced a lawyer to a former tax official in December 2021 and met shaman Jeon Seong-bae through his wife Kim Keon Hee in January 2022.
Yoon's lawyers said they would appeal, citing multiple errors in the ruling. If the conviction is finalized, the party must repay the 39.7 billion won reimbursed after Yoon won at least 15 percent of the vote.
The sentence marks the latest conviction for the jailed former president, who faces multiple trials after his failed martial law attempt in December 2024. He received a life sentence in February for insurrection and has appealed that ruling.
