‘Violation of Public Official Election Act’ Lee Jae-myung Absent from Trial Due to National Assembly Audit

Court Postpones to 27th This Month... Lee to Miss National Defense Committee Audit

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, was absent from the trial, resulting in a postponement.

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is under suspicion of preferential treatment in the development of Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town, is attending a trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 6th of this month. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Lee submitted a written statement to the court stating that he could not attend the trial due to the National Assembly audit. Initially, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Chief Judge Kang Gyu-tae) was scheduled to hold the trial on the 13th.

However, Lee also did not attend the 5.18 Democratization Movement Truth Investigation Committee and Military Manpower Administration audit conducted by the National Defense Committee, his affiliated standing committee, on the same day.

If the defendant does not appear at the trial date, the trial cannot proceed. However, in cases involving violations of the Public Official Election Act, if the defendant does not appear at the trial date, the court sets another date and, if the defendant still does not appear, the court may exceptionally proceed with the trial without the defendant.

Accordingly, the court postponed the trial to the 27th of this month and decided to proceed with the trial thereafter regardless of Lee’s attendance.

Lee was indicted in September last year on charges of publicly disseminating false information related to Kim Moon-gi, the late head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was involved in the Daejang-dong development project, and allegations of preferential treatment in Baekhyeon-dong during last year’s presidential election process.

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