This verdict is pretty surprising to me because so much was done to help cover Kim Kyoung-soo’s tracks during the special counsel investigation:
South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo was placed under immediate detention on Wednesday after a Seoul court sentenced him to two years and 10 months in prison for his role in a major online opinion-rigging scandal in collusion with a political blogger during the 2017 presidential election.
Joong Ang Ilbo
The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Kim Kyoung-soo was a joint principal offender in the crime along with blogger Kim Dong-won, better known by his internet alias Druking, who was given a three and a half year prison sentence by the same court hours earlier.
The two were found guilty of jointly orchestrating a massive opinion-rigging campaign using a computer program to post and “like” thousands of comments on social media that supported Moon Jae-in’s election bid.
“This crime severely debilitated the healthy formation of public opinion through exchange and debate in an online space,” said Seong Chang-ho, the judge presiding over the case at Kim Kyoung-soo’s sentencing Wednesday afternoon. “The criminality of this case is especially severe since public opinion was mechanically distorted away from the will of the electorate.”
Kim Kyoung-soo’s conviction and jailing marks a mighty fall from grace for a close ally of the administration and a presidential hopeful for the ruling Democratic Party (DP).
He will retain his position as governor of South Gyeongsang for now, even in detention, but will be removed from office if his case goes to the Supreme Court and he loses. Election laws dictate that any elected official who receives a prison sentence or any fine above 1 million won ($895) are removed from their posts.
You can read more at the link, but this verdict can still be overturned on appeal by the ROK Supreme Court. Remember that the Moon administration just arrested the last ROK Supreme Court Chief Justice. Maybe they are sending a subtle message to the ROK Supreme Court to not cross the Moon administration. I guess we will see what happens.
