Prosecution Seeks 1-Year Prison Sentence for Lawyer Jang Young-ha over 'Lee Jae-myung Gangster Involvement Allegation'

The prosecution requested the court to sentence lawyer Jang Young-ha, who was indicted for raising allegations of 'gangster involvement' against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in the last presidential election, to one year in prison.

Lawyer Jang Young-ha. Yonhap News

On the 16th, during the sentencing hearing of lawyer Jang's case for false statement under the Public Official Election Act, held by the 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong), the prosecution demanded a one-year prison sentence.

Lawyer Jang, acting as the legal representative of Park Cheol-min, an operative of the violent organization 'Gukje Mafia-pa' active in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, claimed at a press conference and other venues during the October 2021 presidential election period that Lee received about 2 billion won in exchange for granting business favors to close associates of the Gukje Mafia while serving as mayor of Seongnam. Former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yong-pan, having received these claims, publicly revealed photos of cash bundles allegedly given by lawyer Jang at the Gyeonggi Province National Assembly inspection, but these materials were later found to be unrelated to the allegations.

The Democratic Party of Korea reported lawyer Jang and Park to the prosecution for violating the Public Official Election Act by spreading false information with the intent to prevent Lee's election. The prosecution initially dismissed the case, judging that lawyer Jang believed Park's statements to be true when reporting the allegations. However, after the court accepted the Democratic Party's request for reconsideration, lawyer Jang was brought to trial.

The first trial verdict for lawyer Jang is scheduled to be delivered on January 24 next year.