Lee Jae-myung to face trial today on perjury charges… Sentencing expected by the end of October at the earliest

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, attended a court hearing on violations of the Public Official Election Act at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 20th. The first trial on the perjury charge against Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, is expected to conclude on the 30th. The 33rd Criminal Affairs Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Kim Dong-hyun, will conduct the perjury trial on the leader on this day. It has been 11 months since the indictment on October 16 last year. The court has allocated one hour for the examination of the defendants, one hour for the prosecutor’s indictment and opinions, 1 hour and 30 minutes for the defense counsel’s opinions on the evidence, and final arguments, and 30 minutes for the final statements of the defendants, including the leader. The court will then set a sentencing date to conclude the trial proceedings. Lee Jae-myung was charged for asking Kim Jin-sung, who was a secretary of the late Kim Byung-ryang, the former mayor of Seongnam City from December 22 to 24, 2018, to perjure himself in a trial related to violations of the Public Official Election Act by pretending to be a prosecutor. Kim was also indicted for perjury in connection with this case. In 2002, when he was a lawyer, Lee was prosecuted for fabricating evidence by collaborating with a KBS PD who was interviewing Mayor Kim at the time in the “Bundang Parkview special favor sale case,” and in December 2004, he was fined 1.5 million won in connection to this case. In May 2018, after being charged with disseminating false information during a TV debate as a candidate for the governor of Gyeonggi Province, Lee was accused of asking Kim to commit perjury by calling him and suggesting that he testify favorably in court. Kim appeared as a witness for Lee on February 14, 2019, and testified falsely in favor of Lee, resulting in Lee being acquitted on October 24 the following year. Lee denied the charges during the trial that started in January this year, claiming that the prosecutor only included unfavorable information in the indictment. However, most of the alleged perjury facts were admitted by Kim according to Lee’s requests. In September last year, the court rejected Lee’s arrest warrant but acknowledged that there was reasonable evidence for perjury. Based on the usual progression of trials, the verdict is likely to be announced by late October or early November. If Lee is convicted and sentenced to more than a certain term, such as imprisonment, he will be unable to run for the presidency until the sentence has been fully served. Lee is facing a total of seven cases, and he is currently being tried as a defendant in four different courts. On the 20th, the prosecution requested a two-year prison sentence for violating the Public Official Election Act, and the sentencing date was set for November 15. If Lee is only fined more than a million won in this case, he will lose his right to run for office for the next five years and also lose his seat in the National Assembly.