[비즈한국] The Supreme Court has ruled to remand the election law violation case of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to a lower court.
The Supreme Court en banc (Presiding Justice: Chief Justice Cho Hee-de) delivered the final ruling on Candidate Lee’s public official election law violation case at the main courtroom at 3:00 PM on May 1st. The Supreme Court overturned the appellate court’s ruling that had acquitted Candidate Lee, stating that part of the judgment was incorrect, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.
Candidate Lee was indicted by the prosecution for allegedly spreading three instances of false information during his 2021 presidential campaign: claiming he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former division head at Seongnam Development Corporation, denying memories of golfing with him overseas, and stating during a parliamentary audit that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport pressured the change of land use for the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong. He was sentenced to one year in prison suspended for two years in the first trial last November, which would have invalidated his election, but was acquitted in the second trial this past March.
The Supreme Court distinguished between the three statements, ruling that while the comment about Kim Moon-ki could not be viewed as the publication of false information, the comments regarding golfing with Kim and the Baekhyeon-dong project constituted the publication of false information under Article 220, Paragraph 221 of the Public Official Election Act, and therefore violated the law.
The Supreme Court stated that Candidate Lee's remarks should be judged based on the overall impression received by voters who heard them. It further emphasized that while freedom of political expression must be guaranteed, remarks by a person seeking public office can influence voters' fair judgment and therefore must be viewed more strictly than those of an ordinary citizen.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling, Candidate Lee must undergo a remand trial at the Seoul High Court and a potential second appeal to the Supreme Court. It is highly unlikely that a final conclusion will be reached before the presidential election on the 3rd of next month.
The Supreme Court reached its decision 36 days after the appellate court's ruling on March 26. Observers note that the court moved with unusual speed, likely to alleviate political pressure ahead of the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Acting President (Prime Minister) Han Duck-soo, whose run for president has been taken as a given, resigned from his position as Prime Minister on the afternoon of the 1st. He is expected to officially announce his presidential bid on the 2nd. Significant attention is now focused on whether he will unify his candidacy with the People Power Party candidate.