Court Decides Not to Consolidate Lee Jae-myung's 'Perjury Coaching' Case, Will Hear Separately... Attention on Sentencing Timing

The court has decided not to consolidate the case in which Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was indicted on charges of suborning perjury with other cases such as Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong, and to hear it separately.

Since the trial for the suborning perjury case, which was expected to take more than a year until the first trial verdict if consolidated with other relatively complex and extensive cases, will proceed separately, attention is focused on whether the first trial result will be announced before next year's general election.

On the 17th of last month, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, is entering the courthouse to attend the trial at the Seoul Central District Court regarding the preferential treatment in the development of Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town and the allegations related to Seongnam FC sponsorship funds. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

The Criminal Division 33 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Kim Dong-hyun) stated at the preparatory hearing for the trial of Lee and Kim Jin-sung held on the 13th that it would not accept Lee's request for consolidation.

Lee's side argued that the suborning perjury case should be consolidated for the guarantee of the right to defense, but the court accepted the prosecution's claim that the structure of the case is different from other cases and that the trial should be conducted separately.

The court said, "We have carefully reviewed the issue of consolidation internally," and "We will proceed with this case separately for now."

The court stated, "Defendant Kim Jin-sung has no connection with the Daejang-dong case, and the issues are different," and "Considering the volume of the cases, there was an opinion that it would be appropriate to separate and hear them individually."

However, the court added, "The trial will proceed like a typical suborning perjury case, and there is no intention to expedite this case," and "We do not think it will be a burden for the defense counsel."

Lee is accused of instructing Kim, who worked as the secretary to former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang in December 2018, to commit perjury as a witness in his trial for violating the Public Official Election Act.

This case involved charges of making false statements by claiming innocence despite having been convicted in a past case of impersonating a prosecutor, during a debate for Gyeonggi Province governor candidates in May 2018.

Based on recorded phone conversations between the two, the prosecution believes that Lee continuously requested Kim to testify falsely in court in a way favorable to him. Kim was indicted in February 2019 for testifying with false statements contrary to his memory as Lee desired during the actual trial.

At the end of last month, the court accepted the prosecution's request to consolidate the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development corruption case, the Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship case, and the Baekhyeon-dong development corruption case, which had already undergone three hearings. The prosecution argued that all these cases involved crimes committed during Lee's tenure as Seongnam mayor and had similar structures. Lee's side did not particularly oppose this, judging that it could help exercise the right to defense.

However, regarding the suborning perjury case, the prosecution and Lee took completely opposite positions. The prosecution requested a separate trial considering the different nature of the case and the potential infringement on the promptness of the trial. On the other hand, Lee's side requested consolidation, arguing that if the suborning perjury trial were separated, Lee would have to appear in court more than twice a week, which would be a burden on the exercise of the right to defense.

Meanwhile, Kim, who was indicted alongside Lee on perjury charges, recently submitted a statement to the court expressing opposition to consolidation, arguing that his constitutional right to a speedy trial should not be violated. He cited that the trial should not be delayed due to cases related to Lee that are unrelated to him.

After the court denied the consolidation request, Kim's defense counsel requested that the case be reassigned to a single-judge court instead of a collegiate panel, and if not accepted, requested that Kim, who has confessed to all charges, be tried separately from Lee.

In response, the court said, "We do not accept reassignment to a single-judge court," and "We will proceed with the trial reflecting the interests of both parties, and a preparatory hearing will be held on the 11th of next month."

With the court's decision not to consolidate the suborning perjury case trial, the number of trials Lee must attend at the Seoul Central District Court has been confirmed as three.

Lee is currently being tried by the same court division for the 'Daejang-dong, Wirye, Seongnam FC, and Baekhyeon-dong suspicions.' Additionally, he is undergoing a trial every other Friday for charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, heard by the Criminal Division 34 of the same court (Chief Judge Kang Gyu-tae).

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