A Seoul court has sentenced former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho to three years in prison for meddling in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral race.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday issued the same sentencing for main opposition Democratic Party Rep. Hwang Un-ha, who was chief of the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency during the mayoral election, and former Ulsan vice mayor for economic affairs Song Byung-gi, for violating the Public Official Election Act. 

Also on Wednesday, former presidential secretary for civil affairs Baek Won-woo was sentenced to two years and former secretary for anti-corruption Park Hyoung-chul was sentenced to one year, suspended for two years.

The five men are the key figures in the suspicions that the top office and police during the previous administration systematically meddled to rig the 2018 Ulsan mayoral race in favor of Song, a long-time friend of former President Moon Jae, including a request for a corruption investigation into Song’s election rival.

In issuing the sentence, the court said the act of intervening in elections is a very serious crime that requires stern punishment in order to prevent a recurrence.