Lee Jae-myung, the former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, released a video announcing his candidacy for the 21st presidential election on the 10th.
On the same day, the prosecution submitted an appeal statement to the Supreme Court, which is reviewing the charge against Lee for violating the Public Official Election Act. According to the legal community, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office submitted the appeal statement to the Supreme Court’s third division, which is handling Lee’s case. The deadline for submitting such a statement, according to the Criminal Procedure Act, is within 20 days of receiving the notification of the lawsuit record, but the prosecution submitted it before the deadline was imminent.
Lee Jae-myung has 10 days to submit a response from the day he receives the prosecution’s appeal statement. Even if Lee does not submit a response, the Supreme Court will assign a main judge after the deadline and will commence the review. It is expected that the main judge assignment will be completed by the end of this month at the latest.
However, since the calculation of the deadline begins when Lee receives the prosecution’s appeal statement, any issues in the delivery process could delay the commencement of the review.
Previously, the Supreme Court sent a notification of lawsuit record receipt to Lee on March 31, but it was returned, and the court requested a court officer to deliver it directly to him in person on April 7.
Lee, who was the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, was brought to trial for allegedly violating election laws by spreading false information concerning the late Kim Moon-ki, Director of Development at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and suspicions of preferential treatment related to changing the zoning of the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam.
The first trial court sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence, but the appellate court acquitted Lee on the 26th of last month.