Ruling party expresses ‘deep regret’ over appeals court’s not-guilty ruling for main opposition leader
An appeals court’s decision on Wednesday to reverse a suspended one-year prison sentence for Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung, has cleared the main hurdle for the main opposition leader to run for president if an early election takes place provided that suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol is removed from power.
With Lee having been acquitted of election law violations by the Seoul High Court, he is likely to solidify his position as the top liberal candidate and current presidential front-runner in the event of an early presidential election, a political commentator said.
“(The appellate court’s decision to side with Lee) will work in his favor and he now has no problem pursuing the presidency if an early election takes place,” political commentator Park Sang-byeong said.
“Further, it will make it difficult for the prosecutors to continue their probe into the matter, with the public criticizing its in-depth investigations, which include several search and seizures,” he added.
Lee has repeatedly criticized the prosecution for colluding with the Yoon administration and fabricating evidence in their accusations against him.
“If this prosecution and if (the Yoon administration) focused on preventing wildfire disasters and improving the livelihoods of the people, instead of fabricating evidence and cases to (put me in jail) then it would have been a better world,” Lee said after the appeals court delivered its verdict.
Of the five court battles Lee is currently embroiled in, the election law violation case is the one that observers picked as having the “highest legal risk” against Lee as a potential presidential candidate. If found guilty, individuals handed a prison term of any length or a fine exceeding 1 million won ($687.50) for violations of the law are barred from running in elections for 10 years.
Prosecutors are highly expected to appeal Wednesday’s ruling to the Supreme Court.
“If the early election is held before the Supreme Court rules on Lee’s case, then there is a high possibility that Lee could actually become president. This will halt all ongoing court battles he is dealing with during the five years he is in office,” Park explained.
Conservative ruling People Power Party interim leader Kwon Young-se told reporters upon hearing the verdict that the party “expresses deep regret” and said he hopes that the Supreme Court swiftly hands down a ruling within three months of the appeals court decision.
Ruling Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, who is a prosecutor-turned-lawmaker, echoed Kwon, saying that he “cannot understand how Lee was acquitted” for charges that so many other politicians have lost their careers to.
Meanwhile, dozens of main opposition lawmakers cheered outside the Seoul High Court after the verdict was announced.
Democratic Party Rep. Kim Byung-joo, who is a member of the party’s Supreme Council, wrote on Facebook that the verdict was proof “that truth and justice always win,” while expressing gratitude to the court.
In 2022, Lee had been indicted for making false statements during a televised interview as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in December 2021, claiming that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a development corporation official linked to a scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
Lee was Seongnam mayor from 2010-2018 and governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021.
In November, a lower court sentenced Lee to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
