Main opposition calls for Lee to proceed with election law retrial
A Seoul court on Tuesday indefinitely postponed another trial of President Lee Jae-myung on charges of corruption and bribery tied to several scandals during his years as mayor of Seongnam over a decade ago.
The Seoul Central District Court announced that the hearing date for Lee’s trial, which was initially scheduled for June 24, “will be decided” as per Article 84 of the Constitution. Article 84 of the Constitution claims that a sitting president shall not be prosecuted for criminal offenses during his tenure in office except in cases of insurrection or treason.
The trial postponed Tuesday involves charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and corruption tied to land development projects in the Daejang-dong, Wirye and Baekhyeon-dong areas of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The case also deals with accusations of Lee taking bribes in the form of sponsorship for the local football team Seongnam FC from major companies, such as construction giant Doosan.
The Seoul Central District Court’s latest decision also marks the third of Lee’s five ongoing criminal trials to be indefinitely postponed.
It mirrors the Seoul High Court’s move to postpone the first hearing in Lee's retrial on election law violation charges, which was initially scheduled for June 18, the previous day.
Lee’s postponed retrial came after the Supreme Court returned the case to the Seoul High Court in May, overturning the lower court’s decision to acquit Lee of a suspended prison term for violating the Public Official Election Act.
Lee has been accused of making false statements ahead of the 2022 presidential election, including lying in a 2021 media interview about a land development corruption scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, that took place when he was the mayor of the city.
The main opposition People Power Party on Tuesday urged Lee to proceed with his retrial on election law violation charges.
“I request President Lee Jae-myung to declare that he will accept the proceeding of the trial with confidence, if he is not guilty and all indictments are fabricated, just as he claimed during the election run,” People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong said during an intra-party strategy meeting in the morning.
“This would be a path towards protecting the reputation of the president and towards earning the trust of the people,” he added.
Kweon criticized the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s plans to railroad a contentious bill aimed at revising the Criminal Procedure Act to halt criminal trials for an elected president.
“The Democratic Party of Korea said that it plans to forcefully pass the legislation on halting trails for a president -- this is an act that rattles the judicial system by creating a law for only one man, President Lee Jae-myung, a criminal defendant undergoing five trials, and this is unprecedented in South Korea’s history,” said Kweon.
Echoing Kweon’s sentiment, People Power Party deputy floor leader Rep. Park Hyeung-soo expressed concerns that the passage of the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act would effectively “halt” all five of Lee’s trials.
“The Democratic Party of Korea has moved beyond threatening the court to halt the trial, but has forcefully pushed to pass the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which would halt all of President Lee’s trials,” Park said during the same intra-party meeting.
“If the bill passes, then all cases, including the one involving subornation of perjury under trials at Seoul High Court, Seoul Central District Court and Suwon District Court, would be halted.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party on Tuesday decided to postpone its plan to convene a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday to pass several contentious bills, including the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act.
Democratic Party spokesperson Noh Jong-myeon told reporters at the National Assembly that the momentum in pursuing the passage of the bills will be revived after the members of “the new leadership are decided.” The party is scheduled to elect its new floor leader on Friday.
Lee’s other trials involve illegal remittance of funds to North Korea, and subornation of perjury.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
