The Supreme Court has overturned the previous rulings in the case of Mayor Lee Hak-soo of Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province. He was previously found guilty in both the first and second trials for spreading false information during TV debates and had been fined 10 million won, which put his mayoral position at risk of annulment. However, with the Supreme Court’s decision, Mayor Lee will be able to retain his office.
On the 31st, the Supreme Court’s 2nd Division (led by Justice Kim Sang-hwan) overturned the original ruling that imposed a 10 million won fine on Lee and remanded the case to the Gwangju High Court’s Jeonju Division. The Supreme Court stated that “the expressions in question were overall a manifestation of ‘opinion.’ It is also difficult to see that there was an intent for one-sided declaration in the case of TV debate comments.”
Previously, Mayor Lee was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act after allegedly spreading false information suggesting that his rival candidate, Min-young Kim, was involved in real estate speculation ahead of the 8th local elections held from May 26-31, 2022. Mayor Lee raised suspicions during a radio and TV debate by saying, “Candidate Min-young Kim purchased 167,000 square meters of land near Guaeolchog Park in 2001, raising much doubt about the proposal to elevate Guaeolchog Park to a national park status.” He also created and distributed press releases and card news with similar content.
However, approximately 76% of the land had been purchased by Kim’s mother in 1973 and was gifted to him in 2005. The plan to designate Guaeolchog Park as a prerequisite local garden for national garden status was already in progress by 2016. Subsequently, candidate Kim accused Lee of spreading false information.
The court of first instance sentenced Lee to a fine of 10 million won last July, pointing out that allegations of real estate speculation could significantly affect voters’ perceptions and have substantial repercussions. The court noted, “The allegations should have been raised carefully after thorough verification, but instead, they were based on informants’ reports without fact-checking.” Although Mayor Lee claimed that it was merely an “expression of opinion for the purpose of policy verification, not a declaration of fact,” this argument was not accepted. The appellate court also dismissed his appeal, ruling that his remarks constituted the dissemination of false information.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court accepted Lee’s assertion that it was an expression of opinion rather than a declaration of fact. It interpreted Lee’s remarks as expressing critical opinions on the park promotion pledge and the performance of the Jeongeup mayor’s duties. Additionally, the Supreme Court acknowledged that while some aspects of the land acquisition were deemed true, such as the purchase and current holding of approximately 40,000 square meters, the false elements were not significant enough to mislead voters’ judgments.
The Supreme Court also concluded that although some parts of the land acquisition involved a gift instead of a purchase, this did not alone constitute a declaration of false information. The court ruled that the element related to the acquisition being a gift was merely subsidiary and insignificant in influencing the judgment of voters.
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Mayor Lee, who faced the risk of annulment of his election due to a 10 million won fine for violating the Public Official Election Act, can now continue to serve in office. Under the election law, if an elected official receives a confirmed fine of 1 million won or more related to the election they were elected in, their election is invalidated, resulting in the loss of their position.