PPP slams judiciary over Lee's acquittal

Home > National > Politics

PPP slams judiciary over Lee's acquittal

Published: 27 Mar. 2025, 18:18

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, right, holds hands with people displaced by ongoing wildfires at a gymnasium in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang, on March 27. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) accused the judiciary of being overly lenient to Democratic Party (DP) leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung in the wake of his acquittal by the Seoul High Court the previous day on charges of violating the country's election law.

The court’s reversal of Lee’s previous conviction for lying on the campaign trail appears to have shocked the PPP, which up until Wednesday expressed confidence that his guilty verdict would be upheld.

During an all-party meeting at the National Assembly on Thursday, PPP interim leader Rep. Kwon Young-se claimed Lee’s acquittal had been decided by the “political orientation” of the judge that presided over his trial.

“The judiciary will end up destroying its own independence and public trust if it allows rulings to be decided by the political leanings of judges,” Kwon argued, adding that the appellate court’s decision on Lee’s case led him to “question the literacy of the presiding judge.”

PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong went one step further by claiming that the judge assigned to Lee’s trial was a member of a now-disbanded left-leaning lawyers’ association, whose Korean name translates to “Our Law Research Association” in English.

According to Kweon, the Seoul Western District Court judge who approved the arrest warrant against President Yoon Suk Yeol and Constitutional Court Justice Chung Kye-sun are also members of this group.

The PPP floor leader cited the “existence of this kind of cartel” as the reason why he and members of his party “do not have faith in the judiciary.”

Kweon further accused the judiciary of being “lenient” only towards Lee and “overly wary of the power” held by the DP.

People Power Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, center, holds hands with a woman displaced by ongoing wildfires at a shelter in Andong, North Gyeongsang, on March 27. [NEWS1]

“At every critical juncture, the judiciary has spared Lee from punishment by employing incomprehensible logic,” Kweon said. “Reading the Seoul High Court’s ruling on Lee’s case made me wonder how the Korean people can trust the judiciary in the future.”

The PPP’s accusations of judicial bias on Thursday contrast sharply with its previous remonstrations to Lee to accept the outcome of his appeal on Tuesday.

In response to a question regarding the party’s apparent change of heart toward the judiciary, PPP spokesperson Shin Dong-wook said the party is “obliged to ask questions about the influence that Our Law Research Association has over Korean society, especially because the judge [in Lee’s trial] used reasoning that is very hard to understand in order to acquit Lee.”

However, other voices in the PPP have raised doubts about the party leadership’s tactic of criticizing the judiciary.

In a radio interview on Thursday, PPP Rep. Cho Jung-hoon acknowledged that the ruling resulted in “great disappointment,” but also said that “shaking the independence of the judiciary is not desirable,” especially because the political significance of Lee’s case has diminished with his acquittal by the appellate court.

“The Supreme Court can either uphold the acquittal or order a retrial by the Seoul High Court, but either way, there is no way this case can disqualify Lee from running in a presidential race.”

An election to replace President Yoon Suk Yeol would be triggered if the Constitutional Court rules to uphold his impeachment.

However, the court has yet to announce the date of its decision and it remains unclear which way the justices will rule.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]