Prosecution Seeks 2-Year Prison Sentence for Lee Jae-myung on 'Public Official Election Act Violation' (Update)

The prosecution has requested a two-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted for making false statements during the last presidential election.

On the 20th, at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Presiding Judge Han Seong-jin), during the sentencing hearing for the violation of the Public Official Election Act, the prosecution asked the court to impose this sentence on Lee. The prosecution argued, "The defendant repeatedly lied to the entire nation during the 20th presidential election process to win the presidency, making the matter serious," and added, "Since the lies were repeated on broadcasts with a large audience and high transmissibility, it is clear that it had a significant impact on voters' choices."

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on charges of making false statements related to the 'Kim Moon-gi and Baekhyeon-dong allegations,' is responding to reporters' questions as he attends the first trial sentencing hearing for violation of the Public Official Election Act held on the 20th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The prosecution also stated, "To protect the constitutional values of election fairness and democracy, strict punishment is necessary regardless of status for distorting voters' choices through lies," and warned, "If the application standards of the Public Official Election Act vary depending on the defendant's status and political situation, the purpose of the law to realize democracy will be nullified."

Lee was indicted without detention in September 2022 on charges of publicly disseminating false information during a broadcast interview on December 22, 2021, when he was the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. He falsely claimed that he did not know the late Kim Moon-gi, former Head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, as Kim was a subordinate employee during Lee’s tenure as mayor of Seongnam. He also faces charges of making false statements during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s Gyeonggi Province audit on October 20, 2021, regarding allegations of preferential treatment in changing the land use of the Baekhyeon-dong Korea Food Research Institute site, falsely claiming that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which requested the land use change, threatened to take action for dereliction of duty, forcing him to comply.