The Supreme Court Grand Bench will deliver its verdict on the appeal regarding Lee Jae Myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is accused of violating the Public Official Election Act, on May 1.
The Supreme Court announced on April 29 that it will deliver the verdict on Lee's appeal case concerning the violation of the Public Official Election Act at 3:00 p.m. on May 1 in the main courtroom.
Chief Justice Cho Hee Dae decided to refer the case to the Grand Bench just two hours after it was assigned to a Supreme Court panel on April 22. Immediately after the referral, the first deliberation session was held with all 12 justices, including Chief Justice Cho, and the second session took place on April 24.
According to the Court Organization Act and related laws, the Grand Bench handles cases where there is a need to change previous Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution, statutes, orders, or rules (precedent change), cases in which the justices on a panel fail to reach a consensus, and cases of significant public interest. The Chief Justice presides over the proceedings, and the final decision is made by majority vote.
Lee is accused of making false statements during a 2021 television appearance as a presidential candidate, where he claimed not to know the late Kim Moon Gi, former head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Development Corporation, and of stating during a parliamentary audit that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had exerted pressure during the process of changing the land use designation for the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam. In the first trial, Lee was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspended sentence, but was acquitted on appeal in the second trial.
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