Lee Jae-myung, accused of false statements regarding late Kim Moon-gi and Baek Hyun-dong, to face first trial on the 18th of next month

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The first trial of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted without detention on charges of making false statements during the 20th presidential election process, will be held next month.

According to the court on the 27th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Chief Judge Kang Gyutae) will hold the first pretrial conference for Lee on the 18th of next month at 10:30 a.m. Unlike a formal trial date, the pretrial conference does not require the defendant's attendance, so it is highly likely that only Lee's defense attorneys will attend.

Earlier, Lee was indicted on the 8th on charges of publicly announcing false information during an interview with a broadcasting company on December 22 last year, when he was the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, regarding the late Kim Moon-gi, former Head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was involved in the Daejang-dong development project, stating that "He was a subordinate employee, so I did not know him during my tenure as mayor."

Lee is also accused of making false statements during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's inspection of Gyeonggi Province on October 20 last year, related to allegations of preferential treatment in changing the use of the Baekhyeon-dong Korea Food Research Institute site, saying, "The Ministry of Land requested the change of use, and according to the Special Act on the Relocation of Public Institutions, we had no choice but to comply," and "Since Seongnam City could not accept obtaining billions of won in profits through the change of use, the city said it would secure some profits and attract office facilities, but the Ministry of Land threatened to accuse us of dereliction of duty."

Whether Lee knew Kim, the former head, is considered a key clue to identifying the 'upper line' in the Daejang-dong case. The prosecution has determined that Lee received multiple face-to-face reports from Kim on major issues of the corporation, including the Daejang-dong development project, in the Seongnam mayor's office.

If a prison sentence or a fine of more than 1 million won is confirmed, Lee will be disqualified from running for office for five years.

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