Former President Yoon Suk Yeol lost his appeal on Wednesday in a case accusing him of making false statements during the presidential campaign, leaving in place a ruling that would void his election if it stands. According to 한겨레, the People Power Party responded by saying it will wait for the Supreme Court rather than comment on the substance of the decision, and attention is now turning to what happens to the 39.7 billion won in election costs the party was reimbursed after the 2022 race.
Why it matters
Under South Korean election law, a presidential candidate who wins at least 15 percent of the vote has their campaign spending fully covered by the National Election Commission. But if a court finalizes a sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more with the effect of invalidating the election, the party must pay the entire sum back. That makes the outcome of the Yoon case a financial question for the conservative party as much as a legal one, and it lands while the party is still absorbing a series of electoral and legal setbacks.
Party leaders defer to the top court
Floor leader Chung Jeom-sik, speaking to reporters at the National Assembly after the ruling, described the decision as merely the second instance and noted that the Supreme Court has yet to rule. He also pointed to the Supreme Court's handling of a separate election-law case involving President Lee Jae-myung, which was sent back to a lower court last April with the full bench indicating a guilty finding. Secretary-general Chung Hee-yong told 한겨레 only that the party would watch until higher court results come out.
Chief spokesperson Park Choong-kwon framed the ruling as a disappointment and tied it to the special counsel investigation into Kim Keon-hee, the former first lady, calling that probe a political tool used against the opposition. He said the party had hoped the judiciary would judge the case correctly and expects the Supreme Court to set it right.
Some party figures went on the offensive. Lawmaker Na Kyung-won wrote on Facebook that President Lee and the Democratic Party are in no position to point fingers, arguing that Lee's own election-law case was already returned to a lower court with a guilty finding and that resuming that trial is the answer. That trial has been suspended since Lee took office.
A refund the party may struggle to cover
The 39.7 billion won figure is not abstract for the party's finances. A property disclosure dated June 28 put the People Power Party's total assets at roughly 138.4 billion won, but cash and deposits accounted for only about 19 billion won — well short of what a refund would require. That gap has set off discussion of loans or fundraising drives among members, and some observers have raised the prospect of selling land and buildings, including the party's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, which are valued at around 91.6 billion won. Party leadership is said not to be considering a sale of the headquarters at this stage.
The mechanics of repayment are set out in Article 265-2 of the Public Official Election Act. Once a ruling is final, the election commission notifies the party of the amount owed, and if the party does not pay within 30 days, collection is handed to the relevant tax office.
Opponents demand an immediate apology
The Democratic Party's senior spokesperson, Park Sung-joon, said the conservative party should apologize to the public at once and return the 39.7 billion won immediately, arguing it must take clear responsibility for putting a candidate who lied into the presidency and for the events that followed. The minor progressive Rebuilding Korea Party, through its senior spokesperson Park Byung-eon, called on the election commission to take steps to recover the money.
The next move belongs to the Supreme Court, whose ruling would both settle Yoon's legal fate and determine whether the refund obligation becomes final.
