"Suffering of People Due to Wildfire Damage...
Prompt Support Needed"
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed gratitude on the 26th for being acquitted in the appeal trial of the public official election law violation case, saying, “I thank the court for making a common-sense and rational judgment and the people who have united their hearts with me.”
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
On the same day, Lee said on Facebook, “Although I have overcome personal hardship once, I am worried when I think of the suffering of the people caused by the wildfire damage,” adding, “The places scarred by the fire, residents who lost their homes overnight are staying awake at night.”
Lee stated, “I am heading to Andong now. We will join forces to ensure responsible and prompt support for the affected residents,” and “We will do our best to restore daily life as soon as possible.”
Earlier, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-2 (Presiding Judges Choi Eun-jung, Lee Ye-seul, and Jung Jae-oh) overturned the first trial’s ruling, which sentenced Lee to one year in prison with a two-year probation, and acquitted him in the appeal trial for the charge of false statement under the Public Official Election Act.
The court judged that both Lee’s statement that he did not know the late Kim Moon-gi, former head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and his statement that the zoning change of the Korean Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, was made under threats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, did not constitute false facts.
The court divided the charges related to the statement “I do not know Kim Moon-gi” into three categories: “Did not know Kim Moon-gi during tenure as mayor of Seongnam,” “Did not play golf with Kim Moon-gi,” and “Got to know Kim Moon-gi after being indicted under the Public Official Election Act during governorship,” and individually judged the falsity of Lee’s four statements.
Regarding the so-called “golf statement,” which was recognized as guilty in the first trial, the court acquitted Lee, stating, “It cannot be seen as a lie that he did not play golf, and it is difficult to recognize falsity.” Lee explained that the photo taken with the late Kim during a business trip to Australia was “a photo taken with 10 people at once and cannot support the fact that they played golf.”
The court also ruled that the Baekhyeon-dong statement was an expression of opinion and could not be punished as false statement. Regarding Lee’s claim that the zoning change of the Baekhyeon-dong site was made reluctantly under threats from the Ministry of Land, the court said, “It is possible to acknowledge the situation where there was multifaceted pressure regarding the change of public institution use,” and added, “The statement that there was a threat to ‘hold accountable for dereliction of duty’ may be an exaggerated expression of considerable pressure at the time but is difficult to see as false.”
Lee was indicted in September 2022 on charges that the “I do not know Kim Moon-gi” statement and the Baekhyeon-dong statement constituted false facts during the 2021 Democratic Party presidential primary.
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