Democratic Party Files Injunction to Ban Sales of Book Addressing Conflict Between Lee Jae-myung Brothers

Attorney Jang Young-ha's 'Goodbye Lee Jae-myung'... Seoul Northern District Court to Decide After the 12th of Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The court hearing on the injunction request filed by the Democratic Party of Korea to ban the sale and distribution of a book dealing with the conflict between presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and his late older brother Lee Jae-seon is currently underway.

The 1st Civil Division of the Seoul Northern District Court (Chief Presiding Judge Jung Moon-sung) held a hearing on the 28th afternoon regarding the injunction request filed by the Democratic Party on the 22nd against the publisher Jiwoo Publishing, which published "Goodbye Lee Jae-myung," seeking to prohibit the dispatch and sale of the book.

The book is authored by lawyer Jang Young-ha, who exposed allegations of Lee’s involvement with organized crime to the opposition party, and has been on sale at major bookstores since the 24th. It is known that Jang wrote the book based on materials received from Lee’s sister-in-law Park In-bok and a reporter from a certain media outlet.

The Democratic Party argued, "This book contains content that constitutes defamation against the candidate or their spouse, direct ascendants or descendants, or siblings by publicly stating facts with the purpose of influencing the election outcome, which violates the Public Official Election Act."

They added, "It would be acceptable if the book were published after the presidential election on March 9 next year, but before that, there is a significant risk of influencing the election," emphasizing the urgency of the injunction by stating, "With about 70 days left until the election, there is a lack of opportunity to properly explain the truth to voters, which could cause irreparable harm."

In response, Kim Yong-sung, CEO of Jiwoo Publishing, said, "There is a constitutionally guaranteed right to publish, and unless there is a serious violation, filing an injunction to ban sales is an outrageous act by the powerful Democratic Party to deprive the public of their right to know," adding, "This will be a major negative factor for the party as well, and how will the public judge this?"

Kim also explained, "The purpose is to correct distortions and exaggerations among the known facts to inform the public of the correct facts, not to defame the candidate or influence the election in any way."

He requested the court to allow sufficient time to respond, stating that he only received the injunction application documents the day before the hearing and had no time to prepare. The court decided to receive written submissions from both parties for about two weeks until January 12 and then determine whether to grant or dismiss the injunction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.