On the 19th, members of the People Power Party urged the swift trial of various charges against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The People Power Party's "Special Committee to Prevent Judicial Destruction by Lee Jae-myung" visited the Supreme Court that day to convey the need for prompt handling of trials related to Lee.
Yoo Sang-beom, chairman of the special committee, told reporters, "It is the path to establishing the rule of law in the Republic of Korea for the judiciary to conduct trials swiftly and accurately based on principles and fundamentals," adding, "We came to convey our intentions to the judiciary's top officials."
Yoo criticized the Democratic Party, mentioning their declaration to impeach prosecutors involved in the investigation related to the guilty verdict of Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, and their pointing out issues with the ruling to the head of the Court Administration. He said, "They are attempting to bring the judiciary to its knees under the Democratic Party." Yoo, along with lawmakers Joo Jin-woo and Choi Bo-yoon, emphasized the need for judicial independence and swift trials during their meeting with the head of the Court Administration.
The People Power Party's call for the swift judicial processing of Lee is analyzed to be based on two main reasons.
The party believes that behind the Democratic Party's securing of positions such as the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee by citing the will of the people in the general election, there is an intention to delay trials related to Lee. Additionally, the intention to impeach prosecutors who handled investigations related to Lee and to push for special prosecutors on related cases is also seen as an effort to delay the trials.
Another factor considered is that Lee is a leading presidential candidate of the opposition. If Lee receives a fine exceeding 1 million won in the Public Official Election Act trial, he will lose his seat in the National Assembly during his term and find it difficult to run for president. If Lee receives a prison sentence or higher, including suspended sentences, in any one of the four trials at the Supreme Court, his eligibility to run for office will be revoked. Both the trial results and the timing of those results are key variables in the next presidential election. This is also why there is controversy surrounding the interpretation of Article 84 of the Constitution, which grants the president immunity from criminal prosecution during their term. A major issue is whether trials that began before the election can continue after the president is elected.
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