Kim Eun-hye: "Lee Jae-myung's Not Guilty Verdict Is Out of Touch with Public Perception... Must Be Corrected"

"Falsehoods and Lies Related to Elections Should Be Judged by a Narrower and Stricter Standard"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was acquitted in the appeal trial of the Public Official Election Act violation case, while Kim Eun-hye, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the verdict as "hard to accept."

On the 26th, Rep. Kim wrote on Facebook, "The Lee Jae-myung trial panel is nullifying the crime of false statement," adding, "The appeal trial result for defendant Lee Jae-myung was announced today. While I respect the court's ruling, it is difficult to easily accept."

Assemblywoman Kim Eun-hye. Photo by Yonhap News

She continued, "If this is the case, the provision on the crime of false statement under the Public Official Election Act becomes meaningless," emphasizing, "Falsehoods and lies related to elections should be judged by a narrower and stricter standard."

Rep. Kim questioned, "Is the statement about Baekhyeon-dong that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened considered an 'expression of opinion'?" She added, "If another politician had told the same lie, would they have been acquitted? This ruling is far from public perception, and the Supreme Court must promptly correct it."

Meanwhile, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-2 (Presiding Judges Choi Eun-jung, Lee Ye-seul, and Jung Jae-oh) overturned the first trial verdict that sentenced Lee to one year in prison with a two-year probation in the appeal trial for the charge of false statement under the Public Official Election Act. The court judged that both Lee's statement denying acquaintance with 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 Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, was made under threats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, did not constitute false statements.