Wife of DP presidential candidate slapped with fine again in appeals court

Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of the main opposition Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, leaves the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province on May 12, 2025. Yonhap

SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - The wife of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP)'s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung was slapped with a 1.5 million won fine for election law violations by an appeals court on Monday.

The Suwon District Court upheld the sentence from the first trial, which had been handed down in November last year.

Kim Hye-kyung was indicted in February last year for allegedly using her husband's corporate expense card in August 2021, when Lee was serving as governor of Gyeonggi Province. She allegedly used the card to pay for meals worth 104,000 won at a restaurant in Seoul for wives of several former and current DP lawmakers as well as some of her aides.

The appeals court said, "The gathering appears to have been a meeting where the defendant treated the spouses of influential party politicians to assist her husband," which led to her being found guilty of having her secretary, surnamed Bae, pay for the meals with her tacit approval.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Wife of DP presidential candidate slapped with fine again in appeals court

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