Prosecutors: "Perjury, a Serious Crime Disrupting Judicial Order"
The prosecution has requested a three-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on charges of soliciting false testimony from Kim Jin-seong, the late Kim Byung-ryang, former mayor of Seongnam’s executive secretary.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the first trial sentencing hearing on charges of subornation of perjury held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@
On the 30th, at the sentencing hearing for the charge of soliciting false testimony held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Kim Dong-hyun), the prosecution asked the court to impose this sentence on Lee. For Kim Jin-seong, who was also indicted on the false testimony charge, the prosecution requested a 10-month prison sentence.
The prosecution stated, “False testimony is a serious crime that inherently obstructs the swift and accurate determination of substantive truth, disrupts judicial order, and causes social confusion,” adding, “Repeatedly lying about key matters that significantly influence voters’ rational evaluation and instructing false testimony to conceal this again fundamentally infringes on the fairness of elections, which is the foundation of democracy, and the people’s right to vote.”
Furthermore, the prosecution said, “The defendant repeatedly instilled his false claims to Kim Jin-seong multiple times as if they were established facts and secretly made him learn these claims through Telegram, which is a hotbed for various crimes,” and “Especially, the day before the witness examination, the defendant provided Kim Jin-seong with the examination details in advance through his lawyer to ensure he was well-prepared.” They continued, “This is a meticulous method rarely seen in similar cases, comparable to giving an exam candidate the answer sheet beforehand to achieve a perfect score,” emphasizing, “Considering all these factors together, strict punishment commensurate with the illegality and responsibility of the defendants is absolutely necessary.”
Lee was indicted on charges of repeatedly calling Kim from December 2018 to January 2019 and requesting false testimony in the trial concerning the ‘Impersonation of Prosecutor Incident’ related to violations of the Public Official Election Act. Kim was also brought to trial for giving false testimony as Lee intended.
Previously, in 2002, when Lee was a lawyer, he was indicted for impersonating a prosecutor in collusion with a KBS PD who was covering the ‘Bundang Parkview preferential sale case’ involving former Mayor Kim, and in December 2004, he was fined 1.5 million won.
Co-defendant Kim has admitted to all charges of false testimony. On the other hand, Lee has completely denied the charge of soliciting false testimony, claiming that the prosecution selectively edited and pieced together only parts of the entire recorded conversations.
Considering that sentencing usually takes about a month after the sentencing hearing, it is highly likely that the first trial verdict will be announced by November at the latest. If a prison sentence or higher is confirmed by the Supreme Court for the charge of soliciting false testimony, Lee will lose his parliamentary seat and be barred from running in elections for five years.
Meanwhile, Lee is also awaiting the first trial verdict on November 15 for a case involving violations of the Public Official Election Act. The prosecution has requested a two-year prison sentence. If Lee is sentenced to a fine exceeding 1 million won, he will lose his parliamentary seat and be restricted from candidacy for five years.
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