Seoul – Newspic] Reporter Kwon Chang-hoi: Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the 2024 Democratic Party basic local government officials’ training session held at the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the afternoon of the 13th. 2024.11.13./Photo = Newsis
The first court ruling in the public office election law case involving Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, is just one day away. This will be the first verdict among four criminal trials faced by Lee. Particularly, if he is fined more than 1 million KRW for violating the Public Official Election Act, he will be stripped of his eligibility to run for office, making it critical for his political career.
The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement Division 34 (Chief Judge Han Sung-jin) will proceed with the first trial verdict for Lee’s violation of the Public Official Election Act at 2:30 p.m. on the 15th. It has been about two years and two months since Lee was indicted in September 2022. The trial has been prolonged due to 50 witnesses and overlaps with Lee’s hunger strike and COVID-19 confirmation.
Lee is accused of making false statements in a broadcast interview on December 22, 2021, claiming he was not aware of the late Kim Moon-gi, the former head of the Development 1 Department of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, during his tenure, despite Kim being categorized as a key figure in the Daejang-dong development project controversy. Kim was found deceased in December 2021.
Lee is also charged with making false statements in the 2021 National Assembly’s Land Transportation Committee audit of Gyeonggi Province, regarding the land use change favoritism allegations at the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, claiming “the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested the land use change, threatening to consider it dereliction of duty if refused.”
According to the Public Official Election Act, if found guilty and fined more than 1 million KRW, Lee will lose his eligibility to run for elections for five years, and will also forfeit his National Assembly seat.
Regardless of the first trial’s outcome, both Lee and the prosecution are likely to appeal, which means it will take a significant amount of time until the verdict is finalized by the appeals court and the Supreme Court. Even if the initial verdict results in a fine exceeding 1 million KRW, it’s argued that Lee’s political career is not immediately at risk.
However, given that election law violation cases are required to be finalized in three months each at the appeals and Supreme Court levels, according to legal provisions, a definitive ruling could come as early as the first half of next year. If a fine exceeding 1 million KRW is confirmed, the Democratic Party would need to return the 43.4 billion KRW in election funds reimbursed by the National Election Commission following the recent presidential election.
The prosecution requested a two-year prison sentence in the recent trial where conclusions were presented. They argued that “if the application standard for the Public Official Election Act varies based on a defendant’s status or political situation, the act’s purpose to realize democracy becomes futile,” emphasizing the need for “strict punishment for distortions of voter choice through lies to protect the fairness of elections and constitutional values of democracy.”
Election law cases are known for their complexity, even among legal professionals.
Jang Young-soo, a professor at Korea University’s School of Law, stated, “the core issue lies in whether Lee knowingly made false statements regarding Kim, or if he genuinely could not recall, as he claims.”
Attorney Bae In-soon from Law Firm Tae-yul remarked, “the prosecutor must fundamentally prove ‘falsehood,’ which is more challenging than anticipated. Even if there are some falsehoods, if key parts are true, it cannot be considered false information despite some exaggeration.”