Yeo "Concerns over delay in Lee Jae-myung perjury coaching appeal trial... Request for swift trial"

Appeal Filed in December Last Year, No Trial Date Set Yet
Joo Jinwoo: "Suspicion of Trial Delays, Similar Attempts Expected"

The People Power Party urged on the 4th for the swift trial proceedings of the appeal trial regarding the perjury coaching charges against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, which has not started for over two months.

Joo Jin-woo, the legal advisory chairman of the People Power Party, announced that he submitted a petition to the Seoul High Court on the afternoon of the same day, requesting the prompt scheduling of the appeal trial for Lee's perjury coaching case.

Previously, Lee was prosecuted on charges of perjury coaching for repeatedly demanding false testimony from Kim Jin-sung, the secretary of former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang, who appeared as a witness during Lee's trial for violating the Public Official Election Act related to his 'impersonation of a prosecutor incident' in December 2018.

The first trial court recognized Kim's perjury charges and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won last November, but acquitted Lee on the grounds that at the time of the phone call between Lee and Kim, it was not decided whether Kim would testify or what specific content he would testify to, thus Lee had no 'intent' to commit perjury. The prosecution appealed the first trial verdict.

Representative Joo stated, "Lee Jae-myung's perjury coaching case was received by the appellate court on December 16, 2024, but no trial date has been set yet," and added, "There are ongoing suspicions that defendant Lee deliberately delayed trials in other cases, raising significant public concerns that similar attempts may occur in this case as well."

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He continued, "Although a guilty verdict was rendered against Kim Jin-sung for perjury in the original trial, acquitting Lee Jae-myung, who coached the perjury, is a serious legal flaw," emphasizing, "The methods used by the defendant, the leader of the major opposition party, to delay the trial are privileges and unfair advantages that ordinary citizens would not dare to attempt."

Furthermore, Representative Joo urged, "If the court continues to overlook this, it will cause serious damage to the rule of law," and called on "the appellate court to correct the errors of the original verdict and conduct a fair and swift trial according to law and principles."

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