Court hands DP's Lee suspended prison sentence in election law violation case

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Court hands DP's Lee suspended prison sentence in election law violation case

Published: 15 Nov. 2024, 18:10 Updated: 15 Nov. 2024, 18:10

CHO JUNG-WOO
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Lee Jae-myung, the liberal Democratic Party leader, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, after attending his first trial on an election law violation case on Friday. The court handed Lee a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. [CHOI GI-UNG]

A court on Friday sentenced the liberal Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung to a suspended prison term in an election law violation case, a ruling that could result in the loss of his parliamentary seat and bar him from running in the presidential election if upheld.

The Seoul Central District Court handed Lee a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, in the case involving violations of the Public Official Election Act. Prosecutors on Sept. 20 sought a two-year prison term for him.

Under Korean law, any lawmaker convicted and sentenced by a court, including those with suspended sentences, is disqualified from holding office.

If Lee's suspended prison sentence is finalized, or if he receives a fine exceeding 1 million won ($710), he would be barred from running for public office for the next five years, including in the 2027 presidential election.

Friday’s ruling comes more than two years after Lee was sent to the prosecution on charges of lying during a televised interview as part of his last presidential campaign.

The case stems from an interview broadcast in December 2021, during which Lee claimed he did not know Kim Moon-ki, a senior official at a publicly owned company involved in a controversial development project in Daejang-dong, Seongnam, where Lee served as mayor from 2010 to 2018.

Kim was found dead later that month while under investigation for his role in the Daejang-dong scandal, in which small investment firms secured disproportionately large profits from relatively minor stakes in the project.

Lee was also accused of making false statements during a state audit in October 2021 when he was serving as Gyeonggi governor.

During the audit, he alleged that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had pressured him to rezone the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam.

The land was subsequently developed into apartment complexes by a private firm, leading to allegations that Lee rezoned the site to grant preferential treatment to the developer.

The court found both statements to be lies intended to bolster Lee’s candidacy in the presidential election, but ruled him legally guilty only in connection with the comment about the Baekhyeon-dong land development.

According to Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act, anyone who publishes or causes others to publish false information in a manner that benefits a candidate can be punished by up to five years of imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million won.

A supporter of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) holds a banner that says the DP leader Lee Jae-myung is innocent in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Friday. [NEWS1]

"The offense is serious, as making false statements to voters during an election can prevent them from making informed decisions, distorting and undermining the will of the people," the court said.

"While freedom of expression in the election process must be protected, the fact that false information can mislead voters and distort public sentiment must also be considered in determining the sentence."

Lee, speaking to reporters as he left the court, said he plans to appeal the decision, calling it a ruling that is "difficult to accept" based even on the basic facts of the case.

"There are still two more trials left in the courtroom," Lee said, adding that the public would reach a fair conclusion based on common sense and justice.

If the ruling is upheld, the DP will also be required to return the 43.4 billion won it received from the National Election Commission to cover its expenses for the 2022 presidential election.

Friday’s verdict marks Lee’s first sentencing among the four trials he currently faces, which include charges of bribery and another election falsehood accusation of coercing a former mayoral secretary to commit perjury in 2018.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [[email protected]]