South Korea's largest opposition party leader's acquittal overturned: Freedom from ”judicial risk” could boost next presidential election

On the 26th of this month, the Seoul High Court overturned the guilty verdict of the first instance of Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was charged with violating the Public Offices Election Act, and granted him a waiver.
Lee was found guilty. He is considered a leading candidate in the next presidential election. The news agency Yonhap News reported, "If the first-instance ruling had been upheld, he would have lost the right to run for office for the next 10 years, but the ruling has been overturned.
"The acquittal has given him momentum for the presidential election," the report said. Lee was a candidate in the last presidential election and was accused of urban development he promoted while he was mayor of Seongnam, a suburb of Seoul.
In November last year, he was sentenced to one year in prison and two years of probation for making false statements in 2021. Both Lee's side and the prosecution appealed the sentence. The Seoul High Court has now
On the 26th, Lee was found not guilty of publishing false facts under the Public Offices Election Act. During a parliamentary audit, Lee stated that he had "changed the use of land in an urban development project because of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)."
Regarding the statement that "there was pressure from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the Seoul High Court ruled that "it can be seen as an exaggeration, but it is difficult to see it as false."
After the ruling, Lee told reporters, "First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the court for making the right decision based on truth and justice."
Referring to the large-scale forest fires that broke out across the country, he said, "The prosecution and the administration used their capabilities to fabricate evidence and fabricate cases in order to capture Lee Jae-myung.
"If the money had been used to prevent forest fires and improve the lives of the people, the world would have been a much better place," he said, criticizing the prosecution and the administration.
The Democratic Party of Korea, of which Lee is the representative, expressed its welcome for the ruling. Jung Hyun, the party's supreme committee member, also told reporters, "
"The ruling effectively sentences the political prosecution to death. The prosecution must apologize to the people," he said, strongly criticizing the prosecution. Meanwhile, Kwon Yeon-se, head of the ruling party's temporary executive committee, said,
The chairman expressed "deep regret" and called for a speedy trial at the Supreme Court. The prosecution said, "It is illegal because it misunderstood the legal principles regarding the crime of publishing false facts under the Public Offices Election Act," and said, "It is the defendant's argument.
In South Korea, President Yoon Seok-yeol, who declared "emergency martial law" in December last year, was impeached and the constitutional court ruled that the president should be held accountable for his actions.
The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to impeach Yoon. If Yoon is impeached, a presidential election will be held within 60 days. Lee is considered a leading candidate in the next presidential election, and so Lee
The outcome of his trial was attracting attention. If he had been found guilty of violating the Public Offices Election Act, he would have been barred from running for public office, including the presidential election, for five years. However, with this acquittal, Lee will no longer be able to run for public office.
On the other hand, since the prosecution has indicated that it will appeal, if Yoon is impeached and an early presidential election is held, Lee could be tried at the same time as the Supreme Court trial.
Regarding this, Yonhap News reported, "According to the Public Offices Election Act, the Supreme Court's decision must be made by June 26th, within three months of the appeal court ruling.
However, since there are no punitive provisions, this deadline is often not met," he explained. If the appeal procedure is carried out according to the Criminal Procedure Law, the normal appeal procedure alone takes more than a month,
"Some believe it is impossible to reach a decision within three months," he said. For this reason, legal experts say that if the presidential election is held early, it is unlikely that the appeals court will reach a decision by the election day.
Although Lee's acquittal at the appeals court overturned the convictions, giving him momentum for the presidential election, he faces strong public backlash as he faces four other criminal trials.