SUWON, South Korea, An appeals court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a key suspect in the allegation that the wife of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung misused a provincial government’s corporate credit cards years ago.

The Suwon High Court confirmed a lower court’s 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for the suspect, surnamed Bae, finding her guilty of violating the election law through unlawful use of the Gyeonggi provincial government’s corporate cards in 2021.

Bae, who worked for the Gyeonggi province government as a Grade 5 official from July 2018 to September 2021, when Lee served as governor, is suspected of serving as a protocol secretary for Lee’s wife, Kim Hye-kyung, during the three-year-plus period.

Bae was indicted for spending 104,000 won (US$78) from a Gyeonggi corporate card to pay for meals Kim had with six people, including three from the then ruling Democratic Party, in August 2021, ahead of the 2022 presidential election. The provision of meals to election-related fi
gures is banned under the election law.

Bae was also accused of making false statements about performing private duties for the Lee family and getting prescription drugs for Kim.

She has been separately under prosecution probe on suspicion of purchasing food with the Gyeonggi government’s corporate cards for personal use by Kim.

Source: Yonhap News Agency