DP chief Lee Jae-myung acquitted of suborning mayoral official

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DP chief Lee Jae-myung acquitted of suborning mayoral official

Published: 25 Nov. 2024, 15:02 Updated: 25 Nov. 2024, 19:36

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, center, speaks outside the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, after the court's ruling was announced on Monday afternoon. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Liberal Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted by the Seoul Central District Court on Monday of suborning a former Seongnam mayoral official in a past legal case.

In his first public comments after the ruling on Monday, Lee thanked the court for “restoring truth and justice” as a crowd of supporters gathered outside cheered.

The ruling is the second to be issued in a total of five ongoing criminal cases against Lee that could affect his chances of standing as a candidate in the 2027 presidential election.

The DP leader was indicted by prosecutors in October last year on charges of suborning a former secretary to ex-Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang to commit perjury in February 2019, while Lee was on trial for an alleged election law violation.

Prosecutors accused Lee of lying during his successful bid for the Gyeonggi governorship in 2018 by claiming that he had been wrongly convicted in 2002 for impersonating a prosecutor while gathering information for a KBS producer about a residential development scandal in Seongnam.

Under the Supreme Court’s sentencing guidelines regarding the Public Official Election Act, candidates who make false statements on the campaign trail can be handed a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,130).

Although Lee was ultimately acquitted in that case, prosecutors later alleged the DP leader got off the hook because he convinced the secretary, Kim Jin-seong, to testify that he was framed by the former mayor of Seongnam and KBS.

In its ruling on Monday, the Seoul Central District Court said Lee’s remarks that he had provided Kim with a summary of arguments in his defense before the secretary gave his testimony could not be construed as evidence of subornation.

The court also found that a December 2018 recording of Lee asking Kim over the phone to testify on his behalf did not constitute proof of subornation of perjury.

However, the court also found that some of Kim’s testimony in the previous case was false and handed the former secretary a fine of 5 million won.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that it planned to appeal the ruling, calling it “difficult to understand.”

“Kim Jin-seong confessed to committing perjury at Lee’s request, and the court acknowledged he had given false testimony after being contacted by Lee, but somehow the court determined that Lee lacked a criminal motive, which contradicts legal principles and the evidence presented,” a prosecution official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official also said the prosecution plans to review the case and secure Lee’s conviction upon appeal.

Supporters of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung celebrate outside the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, after the court issued a ruling acquitting Lee of subornation of perjury on Monday afternoon. [YONHAP]

Lee’s acquittal represents a rare moment of vindication — and respite — for a politician beset by multiple criminal allegations.

Speaking outside of the courthouse on Monday afternoon, Lee called for “an end to politics aimed at killing people” in apparent reference to his claim that the government and state prosecution service are bent on putting him behind bars to end his political career.

Any final prison sentence or a fine of 1 million won or more in an election law violation case would strip Lee of his seat in the National Assembly as well as his right to run in elections for the next five years.

Just 10 days earlier, the Seoul Central District Court handed Lee a suspended one-year prison sentence after finding him guilty of violating election law by making false statements in the lead-up to the 2022 presidential election, which he narrowly lost to current President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Both Lee and prosecutors have filed appeals in the case.

Lee, who served as mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018, is also being tried on charges of committing breach of trust by skewing a development’s profit distribution scheme in favor of minor investors over the city-owned developer.

He has separately been indicted of third-party bribery and violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act during his gubernatorial term by allegedly paying North Korea a total of $8 million through intermediaries from 2019 to 2020.

Last week, Lee was also accused of misappropriating public funds from the Gyeonggi provincial government.

Lee has denied all of the charges.

Update, Nov. 25: Lee's reaction to the ruling and background information about the case added.
Update, Nov. 25: Prosecutors' response to the ruling added.
Update, Nov. 25: Details about the court's ruling added.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]