SEOUL -- South Korea's former president Yoon Suk-yeol faced the nullification of his election over a suspended prison sentence for election law violations linked to false statements during the presidential campaign, live footage showed Monday.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon to one and a half years in prison, suspended for three years, saying Yoon disseminated false information during the presidential campaign in violation of the election act.
The team of Min Joong-ki, an independent counsel who led an investigation into corruption allegations involving Yoon and his wife, sought a two-year prison term for violating the Public Official Election Act.
Under the act, an elected official's election is invalidated if they are fined over 1 million won (about 680 US dollars) in the final ruling.
As Yoon is a former president, he will not be stripped of office, but the legal validity of his 2022 presidential election will become null and void retroactively.
