Prosecutor-Turned-Park Hyung-soo: "Perjury Is Guilty, Perjury Coaching Is Not Guilty, Unconvincing"

"Generally Difficult to Accept"
"Respecting the First Trial Verdict... Outcome May Change in the Appeal Trial"

On the 26th, Park Hyung-soo, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out that the not guilty verdict for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in the first trial of perjury coaching was "generally a very unusual ruling."

Park, a former prosecutor, appeared on YTN Radio's 'News Fighting, this is Bae Seung-hee' on the same day and said, "Usually, the person who committed perjury is punished, but the person who coached perjury being acquitted is generally very difficult to accept." He added, "While I respect the first trial's verdict, I think the conclusion could sufficiently change in the appellate trial."

Park said, "According to the court's ruling, there is no explanation as to why a person named Kim Jin-sung would risk punishment and commit such perjury," and pointed out, "For example, if Lee said, 'Testify as you remember,' but Kim Jin-sung misunderstood it as an instruction to commit perjury and testified accordingly, the conclusion is strange. It is not natural."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is entering the National Assembly after the first trial sentencing hearing on perjury instruction charges on the 25th. Lee was acquitted in the first trial on the perjury instruction charges. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Earlier, Lee was acquitted in the first trial of the perjury coaching case. The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Chief Judge Kim Dong-hyun) acquitted Lee, who was indicted without detention on charges of perjury coaching, the day before. Kim Jin-sung, a former secretary to the late Kim Byung-ryang, former mayor of Seongnam, who was charged as the principal offender of perjury coaching, was sentenced to a fine of 5 million won.

The court ruled, "At the time Lee Jae-myung spoke with Kim Jin-sung, it was not yet decided whether Kim Jin-sung would testify or what specific content he would testify to," and judged, "It is also insufficient to consider that Lee knew or could have known that each testimony was false."

Regarding the possibility of the outcome changing in the appellate trial, Park said, "If the prosecution appeals and disputes, the possibility of the result being overturned is very high." He continued, "The act of coaching does not require specific instructions to be established. Persuading, pleading, or requesting are all included in coaching acts. Looking at Lee's phone conversations, even though Kim Jin-sung repeatedly said he did not remember overall, Lee kept persuading and requesting."

Additionally, Park criticized Lee's comment after being acquitted in the first trial, saying, "Let's do politics that save people rather than politics that kill," as "an inconsistent statement." He said, "Isn't that a call for politics that saves himself? Lee's current judicial risk has moved into a part that cannot be resolved politically. This is a matter that should be resolved strictly through legal principles and sentencing in the judicial domain, and saying 'let's do politics that save people' as if political resolution is possible is no longer appropriate."