Lee Jae-myung Heads to Appeals Trial... The "Race Against Time" Begins

Appearing at Second Trial for Election Law Violation
Ten-Year Ban on Running for Office if Verdict Is Upheld
Ruling Party Criticizes Delay Tactics in Court Proceedings

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is scheduled to appear at 3:00 p.m. on January 23 at the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 6-2 for the second trial of his election law violation case. This trial is seen as a decisive moment for the political future of Lee Jae-myung. Previously, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year suspension of execution. If this verdict is upheld, he will be barred from running for public office for ten years.

Lee was indicted on charges of making false statements. The prosecution initially identified three statements as false. Prosecutors allege that during the 2021 presidential campaign, Lee claimed in an SBS interview that he did not know Kim Moon-ki, the late director of Seongnam Development Corporation, even though he was directly involved in the Daejang-dong development project. They also charged him for saying on a Channel A broadcast, aired shortly after Kim Moon-ki's death, "They released photos as if I played golf, but those were fabricated." Additionally, prosecutors indicted Lee for stating during a Gyeonggi Province audit that the land use for Baekhyeon-dong was upgraded by four levels "due to pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport," which they claim was also false.

The prosecution indicted Lee in September 2022, but the first trial verdict was delivered in November of the following year, after two years and two months. The first-instance court found two of the three statements problematic: it ruled that Lee's denial of playing golf with Kim Moon-ki during an overseas business trip and his claim that the land use for Baekhyeon-dong was upgraded due to pressure from the Ministry of Land were both false, and convicted him. However, the court found that Lee's statement that he "did not know Kim Moon-ki" did not constitute the "act of public announcement" required for the charge of disseminating false information, and acquitted him on that count.

In most election law cases, fines are typically imposed. However, in cases involving the dissemination of false information, as in Lee's case, a prison sentence is also possible, making the statutory penalty more severe. This reflects the legislative intent to impose harsher penalties for lies or bribery committed for the purpose of winning an election. The first-instance court's decision to impose a prison sentence with a suspended execution-a relatively heavy penalty for an election law case-can be seen as consistent with this intent.

For Lee, the timing of the verdict is as crucial as the question of guilt or innocence. By law, election law cases are supposed to be concluded within six months for the first trial and within three months each for the second and third trials. If the "three-month" rule is followed, the second trial verdict should be delivered by mid-February. Theoretically, if President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial concludes before Lee's election law case, Lee would be eligible to run for president. This has led to criticism, mainly from the ruling party, that Lee is employing various tactics to delay the proceedings. The "race against time" for Lee has now officially begun.

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