Eastar Jet founder gets suspended prison term for election law violations

JEONJU -- Rep. Lee Sang-jik, an independent lawmaker and founder of budget carrier Eastar Jet, was given a suspended prison sentence Wednesday for violating election laws.

The local district court in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, sentenced Lee to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years.

Lee is the first sitting lawmaker of the 21st National Assembly to receive a prison term for violating election laws.

If the ruling is confirmed by the top court, he will lose his parliamentary membership. A lawmaker is deprived of his or her seat when receiving 1 million won ($894.62) in fines or heavier punishment for election law violations.

Lee, formerly affiliated with ruling Democratic Party (DP), was indicted for offering alcoholic beverages and books to electorates in Jeonju in 2019 before he ran in the 2020 parliamentary elections.

He was also accused of colluding with city councilors in sending text messages to fee-paying party members to encourage them to participate in a nonmember's open primary to pick the DP's candidate.

His accomplices received suspended sentences of between a 1 million-won fine and 14 months in prison.

"All candidates should campaign fairly according to the law and should not distort the will of the public. But the defendants committed a serious crime that undermined the foundation of the electoral system," the court said.

The court, however, found him not guilty of other charges, including trying to rally support in religious facilities and spreading false information during an internet TV program.

He is also undergoing a separate trial on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

He was arrested in April and indicted last month on several charges, including causing about 43.9 billion won in losses to Eastar Jet by underselling company shares to a subsidiary owned by his children in 2015. He is also suspected of embezzling about 5.3 billion won from company coffers.

Lee left the ruling party last September amid allegations of misdeeds. (Yonhap)