"Supreme Court Must Promptly Correct the Erroneous Ruling"
Potential presidential candidates within the ruling party collectively reacted on the 26th to the acquittal of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in the second trial of the Public Official Election Act violation case. They argued that the Supreme Court must promptly correct the erroneous ruling.
Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu, pointed out on social media (SNS) that "(the court) predetermined innocence and then created the logic."
The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-2 (Presiding Judges Choi Eun-jung, Lee Ye-seul, Jeong Jae-oh) held a sentencing hearing for Lee's appeal on charges of false statement publication under the Public Official Election Act and announced, "The original judgment is overturned, and innocence is declared." This overturned the first trial's sentence of one year imprisonment with two years probation, which would have resulted in disqualification from office.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a statement after being acquitted in the appeal trial of a violation of the Public Official Election Act held at the Seoul High Court on the 26th. 2025.3.26 Photo by Joint Press Corps
Mayor Hong said, "In the previous election law violation case, there was also an incident where a strange Supreme Court justice overturned the ruling on the bizarre grounds that passive lies are not lies, but this ruling reminds me of the phrase 'Ihyeonryeongbihyeonryeong (耳懸鈴鼻懸鈴; an ambiguous statement that can be interpreted in multiple ways).'" He added, "The decision reaffirms that the political fate of politicians should be decided by the people through elections, not by judges."
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also raised concerns about the second trial ruling, stating, "If a presidential candidate commits a serious lie in an election and it is not considered a crime, that society cannot stand upright," and emphasized, "'Lies are crimes, truth is good' is justice."
Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min also directly criticized the ruling on SNS, calling it "the Hong Gil-dong ruling that cannot call a lie a lie."
Yoo questioned, "Which citizen could reasonably accept that the first and second trial rulings on such a simple case came out at opposite extremes?" He pointed out, "There have been many cases where a single wrong word led to loss of a parliamentary seat due to false statement publication, so it is questionable whether the acquittal of Lee truly upholds the constitutional principle of equality before the law."
He urged the Supreme Court to promptly conduct the final trial and deliver a strict judgment. Yoo wrote, "The reason the court has a three-tier system is to correct such issues and for the judiciary to make the final judgment," adding, "The court should also swiftly proceed with the remaining four trials against Lee, the suspect."
Former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon also emphasized that the Supreme Court must correct the erroneous ruling. Han said, "Lee's acquittal on election law violations goes against the law, truth, and common sense of the people," and criticized, "If 'lies' become 'opinions' for those in power and guilty verdicts are overturned to innocence, there is no justice."
Han continued, "According to this ruling, any lie in all elections in the Republic of Korea would not be a crime. This ruling is a 'license to lie' given to politicians," and added, "The Supreme Court must promptly correct the erroneous ruling so that justice and democracy can be properly established."
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