[Asia Times Yeongnam Bureau — Reporter Koo Jin-hong] Kim Gwang-yeol, who was cut from the People Power Party's primary in the race for Yeongdeok mayor, has filed for a rehearing with the party's national committee and lodged the same request with the North Gyeongsang provincial committee, accusing his primary rival Jo Joo-hong of serious violations of the Public Official Election Act.
Kim's campaign submitted documents it says show Jo orchestrated an organized, unfair primary—mobilizing immediate family members to buy votes and distributing cash to journalists.
On the 24th, Kim formally filed a rehearing petition with the People Power Party's Candidate Recommendation Management Committee and registered an objection with the North Gyeongsang provincial committee. The core of Kim's submission focuses on alleged election-law violations by Jo and members of his family.
Kim alleges Jo’s father, Cho Cheol-ro, chairman of the Yeongdeok Dongcheon Cultural Foundation, on April 8 paid travel costs, meals and insurance for roughly 80 local residents while urging them to support his son. Kim says this violates Article 114 of the Public Official Election Act—which strictly prohibits such gifts—and could, if proven, be grounds to invalidate an election.
He warned the episode could turn ordinary residents into potential criminals. Under current law, recipients of prohibited gifts face administrative fines amounting to 10 to 50 times the value they received. "Putting 80 residents at risk of crippling fines and criminal exposure to win a mayoral seat is the height of irresponsibility," Kim said.
Kim's team also released attendee statements and detailed accounts alleging that around June 2025, while Jo dined with journalists at a raw-fish restaurant in Seongnae-ri, Yeonghae-myeon, aides handed out cash payments of 500,000 KRW (about $375) and 300,000 KRW (about $225) to individuals.
Kim also drew attention to Jo's past record, noting that Jo was fined 2.5 million KRW (about $1,875) five years ago after a conviction for vote-buying under the election law. He warned that a recurrence of the same problem could plunge Yeongdeok into the disruption of another rerun election.
Kim said the rehearing request goes beyond a personal grievance; it directly challenges the credibility of the People Power Party's nomination process. He accused party insiders of repeated backroom deals during the final stages of candidate consolidation and said the cash-distribution allegations appear to confirm those suspicions.
Local sentiment in Yeongdeok has quickly cooled. How the party's Candidate Recommendation Management Committee rules on what Kim calls "the tip of the iceberg" will determine whether the Yeongdeok mayoral contest enters a new phase.
