"Zoomed in on photo and suddenly became a fraudster"... Lee Gi-in's lament on 'First Public Golf Photo'

"If You Zoom In to Show Details, Is That Manipulation?"

As the court acknowledged the 'golf photo manipulation' claimed by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Gi-in, a Supreme Council member of the Reform New Party, raised his voice saying, "Suddenly, I have become a photo manipulator." Lee first revealed a photo in December 2021, claiming the friendship between Lee and the late Kim Moon-gi, former Deputy Director of Development 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, showing them together.

During the 2015 business trip to New Zealand, Lee Jae-myung, then mayor of Seongnam and current leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Moon-gi, former head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Provided by Kim Eun-hye, member of the People Power Party, and Lee Ki-in, Supreme Council member of the Reform New Party.

On the 26th, Lee posted on Facebook, "If I zoom in on the screen to show the person next to me in detail, does that make me a photo manipulator? If I submit an enlarged CCTV image, is that considered evidence of manipulation and therefore invalid?" he said.

He continued, "Are all enlarged photos of license plates captured by speed violation cameras considered manipulated so that fines don't have to be paid? Rather, they should just abolish all zoom functions on cameras and phones," he protested.

Lee added, "I cannot help but suspect that the conclusion of innocence was predetermined and the logic was fabricated," and said, "I hope the prosecution fights well in the Supreme Court appeal."

Earlier, Lee was acquitted in the appeal trial of the Public Official Election Act violation case. On that day, 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 of one year imprisonment with two years probation and acquitted Lee of the charge of false statement under the Public Official Election Act.

Original SNS statement by Lee Gi-in, Supreme Council Member of the Reform New Party (above) and a partial capture excerpted from it (below).

One of the key issues in the election law violation charge was Lee's statement, which the first trial found guilty, that he did not play golf with former Deputy Director Kim Moon-gi. Lee said on a broadcast, "The People Power Party took photos of four people and released them as if I played golf. When I checked, they had taken part of our entire group photo and showed it like this. It's manipulated."

The first trial interpreted the meaning of "manipulated" based on the circumstances, context, and general voter perception as meaning "I did not play golf with former Deputy Director Kim during the overseas business trip." However, the second trial said, "Since a part of the original was taken out, it can be seen as manipulated," and "Therefore, Lee's statement explaining this can be interpreted as meaning that the photo was manipulated, so he did not play golf together."

In December 2021, Lee revealed a photo from 2015 when then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung of Seongnam went on an overseas business trip to New Zealand to benchmark tram cars, as evidence that former Deputy Director Kim had been close to Lee for years.

Meanwhile, some netizens criticized Lee's logic by sharing a captured image of part of his Facebook message. The captured image isolated the phrase "I am a photo manipulator" from Lee's message, making it appear as if he was confessing to manipulating the photo himself.