An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's decision to fine a ruling party lawmaker for providing false information to voters ahead of the parliamentary elections last year.

The Seoul High Court dismissed the appeal by Rep. Ham Jin-gyu of the Liberty Korea Party and ordered him to pay a 900,000 won($787) fine -- 100,000 won shy of the amount that may cause him to lose his parliamentary seat under the Public Official Election Act.

If the ruling is confirmed by the Supreme Court, he will retain his status as a lawmaker.

In October, the two-term lawmaker was indicted on the charges that he included the lifting of the development ban on his constituency in Siheung on the outskirts of Seoul as part of his achievements in reports distributed to voters between December 2015 and June last year.

But the so-called green belt restriction was removed in late 2010 before he was first elected to the National Assembly in 2012.

The appellate court said that the lower court's conviction appears to be "sufficiently appropriate," despite Ham's claim that he included the deregulation as part of "objective facts." (Yonhap)