An appellate court on Thursday upheld a two-year prison term for former opposition lawmaker Youn Kwan-suk in connection with a cash-for-votes scandal surrounding the main opposition Democratic Party’s 2021 leadership election.

The scandal centers on allegations that the campaign of former Democratic Party (DP) leader Song Young-gil distributed cash envelopes totaling 66 million won (US$47,781) to 20 sitting DP lawmakers and other party members in the run-up to the party’s leadership election in May 2021, which he ultimately won.

Youn, who worked for Song’s campaign, was accused of receiving 20 cash envelopes, each containing 3 million won, to be distributed to DP lawmakers shortly before the election.

The Seoul High Court delivered the two-year term for Youn, convicting him of violating the Political Parties Act, a decision that is the same as the one a district court had previously ruled.

The court condemned Youn’s charges as “serious crimes of buying voters with money that shake the foundation of democr
acy.”

Yoon is currently facing a separate trial on charges of delivering three of the money-filled envelopes he received during a meeting of lawmakers supportive of Song ahead of the leadership election.

Source: Yonhap News Agency