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Citizens watch related news in the waiting room at Seoul Station on July 27, when the first-trial sentencing hearing was held for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was indicted on charges of publishing false information during his presidential candidate days. On this day, the court sentenced former President Yoon to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years. / Reporter Park Seong-il

As former President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first-trial ruling over alleged Public Official Election Act violations, the People Power Party faces a crisis where it may have to return 39.7 billion won in presidential election campaign expenses reimbursed by the state during the 20th presidential election. While the People Power Party expressed its stance to monitor the final ruling as this is still a first-trial decision, the Democratic Party of Korea urged the immediate return of the election expenses, arguing that the ruling party must take responsibility for putting forward former President Yoon as its presidential candidate.

According to political sources on July 27, former President Yoon was indicted on charges of making false statements during the 20th presidential election campaign to the effect that he denied meeting the shamanist monk Jeon Seong-bae, known as Master Geunjin, and that he had never introduced a lawyer to Yoon Woo-jin, former head of the Yongsan District Tax Office. The court sentenced him to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, in the first-trial ruling on that day. If this sentence is finalized by the Supreme Court, the People Power Party will be required to return the 39.7 billion won in election expenses reimbursed by the state to the national treasury.

Although an immediate obligation to return the funds does not arise, the People Power Party is closely monitoring the final verdict, given that a massive sum must be returned if the sentence is upheld by the Supreme Court. Should the repayment actually take place, it is expected to impose a substantial financial burden on the party. While the total assets of the People Power Party are reported to be around 130 billion won, a significant portion consists of real estate assets, including land, buildings, and lease deposits.

Park Seong-hoon, chief spokesperson for the party, stated in a briefing that since the final judgment of the Supreme Court remains, the party will gravely monitor the outcome.

In particular, the People Power Party raised fairness issues, arguing that the same legal standards applied to President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act case should also be applied to this matter.

When President Lee was the leader of the Democratic Party, he was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, in the first trial, but was acquitted in the second trial. Subsequently, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the Seoul High Court with a finding of guilt in May of last year, but proceedings have been suspended following President Lee's inauguration. In that case as well, if a fine of 1 million won or more is finalized, the Democratic Party would be required to return 43.4 billion won in reimbursed election expenses.

Chief spokesperson Park stated that because the Supreme Court has already rendered a judgment on President Lee's case, there is no reason for further delay, calling on the Democratic Party to return the campaign reimbursement funds to the public as soon as the sentence is finalized.

In response, the Democratic Party launched an all-out offensive, raising political responsibility on the part of the People Power Party.

Han Byung-do, acting party leader and floor leader, criticized on Facebook that the ruling delivered a heavy blow to former President Yoon's ugly lies that affected the election outcome, calling it a deserved retribution for the fault of recommending an unqualified candidate, giving birth to a prosecution dictatorship, and shaking the constitutional order to its roots. He added that the party should not even dream of evading the collection of the reimbursed election expenses through trickery.

Kang Jun-hyun, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, also stated in a briefing that it is now turn for the People Power Party, which fielded Yoon Suk-yeol after he usurped the presidency through falsehoods, to take responsibility, urging them to immediately apologize to the public and proceed with returning the 39.7 billion won in election expenses reimbursed with taxpayer money.

                                                                                                          Kim Dong-wook