Appellate court confirms suspended prison sentence for opposition lawmaker

Rep. Lim Jong-seong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea speaks to reporters at the Suwon High Court in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 1. Yonhap

An appellate court upheld a lower court's suspended prison term of four months for Rep. Lim Jong-seong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea for election law violations Wednesday, a sentence heavy enough to remove him from parliament if confirmed by the Supreme Court.

The Suwon High Court sentenced Lim to an imprisonment of four months, suspended for two years, after convicting him of giving instructions for the provision of money and valuables to young party members who were participating in the party's presidential campaign in March last year.

The two-term lawmaker elected from the Gyeonggi Province city of Gwangju was also convicted of making donations prohibited by the election law. He was given the same sentence by a district court in January this year.

Under the current election law, a confirmed jail term or a fine of more than 1.1 million won ($812) results in the nullification of parliamentary seats. (Yonhap)