Court Winter Recess Ends... Lee Jae-myung's 2nd Trial and Treason Charges Trial Begin

Courts nationwide will resume trials in earnest after a two-week winter recess.

Seoul Central District Court. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

According to the legal community on the 5th, courts that observed the winter recess from the 23rd of last month to the 3rd of this month will resume hearings starting on the 6th.

At the Seoul Central District Court, the largest court in the country, the trial of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, will resume. The trial related to the 'Daejang-dong, Wirye, Seongnam FC, and Baekhyeon-dong allegations' is scheduled for the 7th and will proceed once or twice a week.

The second trial for Lee’s violation of the Public Official Election Act will hold its first hearing on the 23rd. The appeal trial for the perjury coaching case is also expected to begin soon.

Trials related to the emergency martial law incident will also intensify. The preparatory hearing for the trial of former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who was indicted and detained on charges of rebellion, will be held on the 16th. This is the first trial related to the December 3 emergency martial law incident.

The trial involving the main figures of the Daejang-dong scandal, including Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, lawyer Nam Wook, and accountant Jung Young-hak, who are accused of breach of trust, will resume on the 6th of next month.

Sentences for important cases are also scheduled one after another. The verdict for Song Young-gil, leader of the Pine Tree Party, regarding the 2021 Democratic Party convention money envelope allegations will be delivered on the 8th. The second trial verdict for Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, on charges of unfair merger and accounting fraud is scheduled at the Seoul High Court on the 3rd of next month.

The second trial verdicts for Kim Yong, former deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, on allegations of illegal presidential election fund receipt, and for Park Young-soo, former special prosecutor involved in the Daejang-dong '50 Billion Club' case, will be held on the 6th and 13th of next month, respectively.