A court has ordered a fine of one-point-five million won, or around one-thousand-100 U.S. dollars, for the wife of main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung upon convicting her of violating the election law during the 2022 presidential primaries.

In its ruling on Thursday, the Suwon District Court said Lee’s wife, Kim Hye-kyung, denied responsibility for purchasing a meal for a group of spouses of then-incumbent and former DP lawmakers.

The court said Kim instead shifted the blame to her former aide, a woman identified by her surname, Bae.

Concluding that Kim authorized the meal payment, the court ruled that her actions may have threatened fairness and transparency in the election process.

Kim was indicted in February and accused of covering the cost of the meal in August 2021 for a total of six people using a Gyeonggi Province corporate credit card, when her husband served as the provincial governor.

Prior to the court ruling, the DP chief posted on social media that his wife was “a sacrificial offering” in a retaliatory investigation.