'Election Rights Revoked, Candidate Endorsed' — Jeon Kwang-hoon Fined 2 Million Won

Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon at an emergency press conference (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Jin-wook = Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon holds an emergency press conference related to the August 15 and 16 rallies at Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul on the 13th. 2025.8.13 cityboy@yna.co.kr

Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, who was indicted for endorsing a specific candidate during a church service while his election rights were revoked, has had a fine confirmed.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Um Sang-pil) confirmed the appellate court's ruling on the 4th, which imposed a 2 million won fine on Pastor Jeon for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Pastor Jeon is accused of making statements such as "The presidential election on March 9 is a done deal, Kim Kyung-jae is going to be president" and "I dared them to find someone with the know-how, deep historical awareness, and experience like Chairman Kim Kyung-jae. This prophet will handle all the dirty work from the grassroots" during a service at Sarang Jeil Church around November 2021, ahead of the 20th presidential election.

At the time, Pastor Jeon's election rights had been revoked for 10 years due to a confirmed suspended prison sentence for election law violations in August 2018, meaning he was unable to engage in election campaigning.

Jeon argued that these statements were mere expressions of opinion or intent, but the first instance court ruled that "it was only four months before the presidential election held in March 2022, and the defendant recorded and broadcast his sermons to a large number of followers, constituting an active and proactive act intending for a specific candidate's election," and imposed a fine of 2 million won.

Although Jeon appealed the ruling, both the appellate court and the Supreme Court found no errors in this judgment and dismissed his appeal.