BUSAN — Ha Yoon-soo, the former superintendent of the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education who lost his post after a conviction under the Public Official Election Act became final, has been given a suspended prison sentence by a lower court for illegally helping a candidate campaign in the 2024 parliamentary election, it was belatedly confirmed.
The First Criminal Division of the Busan District Court's Eastern Branch, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Dong-ki, sentenced Ha to six months in prison, suspended for one year, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, according to legal sources on the 21st. A former secretary to the superintendent, identified only as A, who carried out the work on Ha's instructions, was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for one year. Both defendants appealed the ruling, and the second trial is under way at the Busan High Court.
According to the lower court ruling, Ha is accused of instructing his secretary, A, to help the campaign of candidate Jang Ye-chan during the 22nd general election. From Feb. 5 to April 9, 2024, A sent press releases and photographs detailing Jang's campaign activities to 15 reporters a total of 310 times and asked them to write articles, and also distributed polling data including candidate approval ratings on four occasions, the investigation found.
The court pointed to Ha's own legal jeopardy as the backdrop to the offense. After Ha was fined 7 million won in September 2023 in a lower court ruling on a separate election law case, leaving him at risk of losing his office, he expected that Jang — then a confidant of the president — would become a useful political asset if elected, the court said.
"In light of the circumstances, duration, frequency and methods of the offense, the culpability is by no means light," the court said. "Even while standing trial on similar charges, the defendant committed the offense in a planned manner, fully aware that it was unlawful." The court added that in deciding the sentence it had taken into account that "the defendants admitted the offense and that the impact on the election outcome was limited because Jang ultimately lost."
Ha had been on trial on charges including operating an unauthorized campaign-support organization during the 2022 local elections, and lost his post as superintendent in December 2024 when the Supreme Court finalized a fine of 7 million won.