Lee Jae-myung Appeals 'Loss of Assembly Member Position' Sentence in Public Official Election Act Case (Update)

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appealed the first trial verdict in the case of violating the Public Official Election Act.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is wearing a stern expression at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 18th.

According to the legal community on the 21st, Lee's side submitted an appeal to the Seoul Central District Court on the same day. Earlier, the Criminal Division 34 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Han Seong-jin, sentenced Lee to one year in prison with a two-year probation on the 15th for the charge of false statement disclosure under the Public Official Election Act.

The court recognized as false statements the remarks related to the late Kim Moon-gi, former Head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, including the claim that "I did not play golf with Kim Moon-gi during the overseas business trip" and the statement implying that the preferential change of use for the site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, was made under pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. However, regarding the statement "I did not know Kim Moon-gi," the court judged it as not guilty on the grounds that this alone does not deny the act of association.

The appeal trial is expected to be assigned to one of the 2nd, 6th, or 7th divisions of the Seoul High Court, which handle election cases.