Kweon Seong-dong, a lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party, speaks to reporters as he appears at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea. EPA/YONHAP / EPA
July 16 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a two-year prison sentence for former People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong for accepting 100 million won ($66,300) in illegal political funds from a Unification Church official.
The ruling immediately cost Kweon his seat in the National Assembly.
The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Eom Sang-pil, upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Kweon to two years in prison and ordered him to forfeit 100 million won ($66,300).
Under South Korea's Political Funds Act, a lawmaker loses office when a fine of at least 1 million won is finalized for illegally accepting political funds.
