Appellate court overturns lower court's suspended 1-year sentence
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday acquitted Rep. Lee Jae-myung of violating the Public Official Election Act, paving the way for the main opposition leader to consolidate his leadership in the liberal bloc.
The appellate court Wednesday overturned the lower court decision in November that had handed down a suspended one-year prison term to the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which holds the majority of seats in the parliament.
With the appellate court decision clearing Lee of charges, he is likely to have a smooth ride to his presidential bid within his party, should an early presidential election take place before the Supreme Court rules. Later on Wednesday, the prosecution said it would appeal to the top court.
South Korea has been waiting for the Constitutional Court's ruling on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment for leading an alleged self-coup in December. If the court upholds the Assembly-led motion to impeach the president, an early presidential election will be held 60 days after the ruling. It is widely predicted that the impeachment ruling will be delivered no later than early April, and the Supreme Court's ruling on Lee in June -- within three months if the prosecution appeals the case.
If the appellate court had upheld the lower court’s ruling, Lee would have faced significant political risks, with his presidential eligibility coming under scrutiny both within and outside his party. If the case reaches the Supreme Court and results in a conviction with a penalty exceeding a 1 million won ($687.50) fine, he would lose both his parliamentary seat and the right to run for president for 10 years. He also faces four other trials.
Immediately after the criminal court verdict, Lee hailed the court's decision for being "based on truth and justice." He blasted the prosecution for "wasting the state's capacity" to fabricate evidence to be used against an opposition leader.
Lee, a two-term liberal lawmaker, formerly served as Seongnam mayor from 2010 to 2018 and as the Gyeonggi Province governor from 2018 to 2021. He was the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in the 2022 election, where he lost to Yoon by a razor-thin margin of 0.73 percentage points.
Lee's accusation had centered on his statements in October 2021 over the rezoning of land in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province in the past, and in December 2021 over whether Lee had personal ties with a figure at the center of a high-profile land corruption scandal -- all of which were made after he officially became the presidential nominee representing the Democratic Party.
Under the Election Act, those who publish false information with the intent to get elected to public office face punishment of up to five years in prison.
During a parliamentary audit in October 2021, about a few weeks after his nomination as a presidential candidate, Lee denied allegations that he had sought a personal gain in mid-2010s as Seongnam City mayor, by permitting the rezoning of the property -- used as a research institute -- to increase its value through a lucrative housing development project.
Back then, Lee told the parliament that the government under the former Park Geun-hye administration coerced him into rezoning the property, by saying, "The Land Ministry had blackmailed (him into rezoning), saying (he) would be accused of abandoning his duty" if otherwise.
The appeals court found him not guilty because he had not falsified his remarks, recognizing that the government had intended to force Lee to carry out rezoning. It added that there was no proof that Lee had been involved in his aide's personal gain from the land developers who benefited from the project.
This showed a contrast with the lower court's earlier finding that Lee had independently made the rezoning decision.
The appellate court ruling also suggested that none of Lee's remarks in four instances that denied personal ties with Kim Moon-ki, head of the Development Division at the Seongnam Development Corp., carried any intention to make false statements to win the presidential election.
At the lower court, Lee had earlier been found guilty of denying the fact in a media interview that he had no personal ties with Kim, who was then accused of having been involved in a land corruption scandal in Daejang-dong of southern Gyeonggi Province. Lee is also suspected of having been involved in the same corruption scandal.
When asked about a photo of Lee together with Kim at a golf course in Australia, Lee then said that his political opponents had "manipulated the photo." The appeals court found that the accusation against Lee stemmed from the prosecution's inference rather than what Lee had actually said.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
