Oh Se-hoon: "Lee Jae-myung delays by avoiding judges... It's despicable"

Former Gyeonggi Vice Governor Ihwa-young Receives Heavy Sentence in Second Trial
"Cannot Remit Funds to North Korea Without Head of Organization's Knowledge"
Lee Jae-myung Faces Delay Concerns Due to Judge Recusal Request

On the 19th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated that Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delaying his own trial by requesting recusals of judges, and said, "He should cooperate with a swift trial just as he demands a prompt impeachment." This follows Lee's recent request for judge recusals in the 'illegal remittance to North Korea' trial, which typically delays the trial by 2 to 3 months.

Mayor Oh mentioned this on his Facebook in the afternoon with a post titled "The deputy governor is guilty, the governor is stalling," criticizing Lee by saying, "His shameless stalling is utterly despicable."

In particular, Mayor Oh referred to the second trial result of former Gyeonggi Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young regarding the remittance to North Korea, stating, "In the appeal trial, he received a heavy sentence just like in the first trial. The court again concluded that the remittance to North Korea was 'the cost of Lee Jae-myung's visit to North Korea.'" He added, "Such a serious matter as remitting money to North Korea cannot be done secretly by the deputy governor alone without the knowledge of the head of the local government, nor is there any reason to do so."

Former Deputy Governor Lee served as the Gyeonggi Deputy Governor during Lee Jae-myung's tenure as Gyeonggi Governor. He was identified as a key figure in the 'Ssangbangwool illegal remittance to North Korea' suspicion and was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial and 7 years and 8 months in the second trial. The appeal trial also recognized the allegation that the Ssangbangwool Group paid for the then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee's visit to North Korea.

This is why Mayor Oh pointed out, "Lee Jae-myung, who should be apologizing to the people, is cowardly stalling by requesting judge recusals." Earlier, Lee reportedly requested to transfer the trial from Suwon District Court to Seoul Central District Court in July. Although Lee was indicted in June, the main trial has yet to begin.

In response, the People Power Party is launching an offensive, saying that unlike the opposition party's demand for a swift impeachment of President Yoon Seok-youl by the Constitutional Court, Lee is stalling in his own related trials. Lee is also avoiding receiving the lawsuit record notification in the public election law violation trial where he was sentenced to one year in prison with two years probation in the first trial. The Seoul High Court sent documents twice by mail but failed to deliver due to reasons such as absence, and has now initiated a process where court officers personally deliver the documents.