Opposition lawmaker given suspended prison term; parliamentary seat at risk

BUCHEON, South Korea, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup of the main opposition Democratic Party was sentenced to a suspended prison term Friday on charges of making an unauthorized land purchase, a sentence heavy enough to remove him from parliament if finalized at the Supreme Court.

The three-term lawmaker was indicted on charges of purchasing 668 square meters of land in a regional government-designated zone in Bucheon, just west of Seoul, where prior permission from the regional government is required for land transactions.

Kim allegedly bought the land from former Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo in May 2020 for 500 million won (US$376,732) without the mandatory permission. The land was selected as a site for a public development project, and 1.1 billion won was later offered to buy up the land.

On Friday, the Incheon District Court's branch in Bucheon sentenced Kim to a six-month prison term, suspended for two years, while handing out a four-month prison term to the former labor minister, also suspended for two years.

By law, a lawmaker gets automatically removed from parliament if he or she is sentenced to a prison term or worse.

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