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[Breaking] Supreme Court overturns Lee Jae-myung's 'Election Law Violation' acquittal, remands with guilty intent
Summary
- Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, was found guilty in the Supreme Court for violating the Public Official Election Act, and the case was remanded to the Seoul High Court.
- The Supreme Court judged that Lee Jae-myung's statements constituted false information disclosure and recognized him as guilty.
- This case, which received a guilty verdict in the first trial and a not guilty verdict in the second trial, was reported to have been changed to a guilty verdict by the Supreme Court.
The case of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, violating the Public Official Election Act has been remanded by the Supreme Court with a guilty intent.
The Supreme Court's full bench (Presiding Justice Park Young-jae) overturned the lower court's acquittal of Lee in the appeal trial of the election law violation case held at the Supreme Court on the afternoon of the 1st and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.
The Supreme Court judged that some of Lee's statements, including those related to the late Kim Moon-ki, former head of the first division of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, regarding golf and the Baekhyeon-dong development project, were false.
The Supreme Court first determined that Lee's statement implying that the 'photo was manipulated' concerning the suspicion of playing golf with former Director Kim was indeed a false statement.
Regarding the change of use in Baekhyeon-dong, the Supreme Court also recognized as guilty that "there was no threat from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Seongnam City regarding dereliction of duty, yet the defendant made a false statement."
Previously, Lee was indicted for making false statements while serving as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 2021, claiming not to know former Director Kim and stating during the Gyeonggi Province audit that there was a threat from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport during the process of changing the use of the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam City.
The lower court's judgment was completely reversed from guilty in the first trial to not guilty in the second trial. The first trial recognized Lee's guilt and sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year probation, but the second trial acquitted him, stating that Lee's statements were merely 'recognition' or 'expression of opinion' and thus not punishable.
Hong Min-seong, Hankyung.com reporter mshong@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
