Prosecutors Who Requested Prison Sentence for Lee Jae-myung Say "Will Decide on Appeal After Reviewing Judgment"

On the 15th, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted for false statements under the Public Official Election Act during the last presidential election, was sentenced in the first trial to a suspended prison term equivalent to losing his parliamentary seat. Meanwhile, the prosecution stated that it will review the first trial verdict and decide whether to appeal.

Previously, the prosecution had requested a two-year prison sentence for Lee.

On the day, the prosecution said, "The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigated the case of Lee Jae-myung violating the Public Official Election Act by making false statements regarding his relationship with the late Kim Moon-gi, the person in charge of the Daejang-dong project (including overseas golf trips), and the change of land use designation for the Baekhyeon-dong project site, based on evidence and legal principles. As a result, it was judged that the charges were valid, and he was indicted on September 8, 2022."

The prosecution added, "The Seoul Central District Court today found the defendant guilty of these charges and sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year suspension." The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office plans to carefully review the verdict and decide whether to appeal."

At 2:38 p.m. on the same day, the sentencing hearing for Lee's violation of the Public Official Election Act was held under the Criminal Division 34 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Seong-jin). The court recognized as false Lee's statements denying that former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Development Division 1 Director Kim Moon-gi played golf overseas and that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport pressured the change of land use for the Baekhyeon-dong site, sentencing Lee to one year in prison with a two-year suspension.

The court stated, "Among the overseas business trip group, only Yoo Dong-gyu and Kim Moon-gi played golf outside the official schedule," and added, "It is difficult to believe that the statement denying playing golf overseas with Kim Moon-gi is true."

Furthermore, the court said, "The change of land use for the Baekhyeon-dong site was based on Seongnam City's independent judgment and was reviewed and changed by the defendant himself," and "The statement that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened with dereliction of duty can be regarded as false."

Regarding Lee's statements denying knowing former Director Kim, the court found guilty the part where Lee said, "I, and the People Power Party, took photos of four people and released them as if I had played golf. Upon checking, I found that they took part of our group photo and showed it like this. It was manipulated," indicating that he did not play golf with Kim during the overseas trip.

However, the court acquitted Lee of the claims that he did not know Kim Moon-gi during his tenure as Seongnam mayor and that he only came to know Kim after becoming governor and being indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.

After the sentencing hearing, Lee stated, "I will appeal," and added, "It is a conclusion that is fundamentally difficult to accept, even regarding the basic facts."