Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, greeted supporters after being acquitted in an appeal trial for violating the Public Official Election Act at the Seoul Central District Court on the 26th. /Yonhap News
The Democratic Party criticized the prosecution for expressing its intent to appeal after Lee’s acquittal in the second trial, stating that the prosecution “confessed to being a political prosecution.”
On the 27th, Democratic Party spokesperson Lee Geon-tae commented in a briefing at the National Assembly, “While the prosecution gave up immediately appealing the decision to cancel the arrest of the head of the insurrection, they promptly declared their intention to appeal right after Lee Jae-myung’s verdict.”
Spokesperson Lee contended, “The prosecution fabricated charges arbitrarily to target politician Lee Jae-myung, a political opponent of President Yoon Seok-yeol, aiming for a political indictment,” and added, “The wise judgment of the appellate court halted this political indictment.”
He continued, “The appellate trial concluded with a not guilty verdict, as it was recognized that Lee was unfairly indicted based on statements he never made and by cobbling together charges,” stating that “it’s clear that the prosecution’s charges were unfounded.”
The spokesperson emphasized, “The appellate court’s not guilty verdict comprehensively evaluated the overall statements based on evidence and precisely recognized the facts, deploying Supreme Court precedents on the crime of false information,” stressing that the prosecution’s appeal is bound to be dismissed.
Spokesperson Lee further stated, “Through this acquittal, our citizens have become aware of the prosecution’s real motives behind their political investigations and indictments,” warning, “If the prosecution doesn’t cease its politically motivated investigations and indictments, it will ultimately face severe judgment from the public.”