Lee Jae Myung's Perjury Incitement Appeal Postponed: All Trials Delayed Until After Presidential Election

Court Changes Trial Date to "To Be Determined"

The appellate trial for the perjury incitement case involving Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, has been postponed until after the presidential election. As a result, all of Lee's criminal trials?including the retrial for violation of the Public Official Election Act and the case involving alleged preferential treatment in the Daejangdong development?will be held after the presidential election on June 3.

Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate accused of breach of trust in Daejangdong and bribery related to Seongnam FC, is greeting his supporters as he attends a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on April 29, 2025. Photo by Kang Jin Hyung

On May 12, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Seunghan) announced, "Since the defendant registered as a presidential candidate last weekend, the trial date for the perjury incitement case has been changed to a date to be determined."

The second trial for the perjury incitement case had held two pretrial hearings, and the first main trial was scheduled for May 20. At the second pretrial hearing on April 1, the court had also announced its intention to hold the closing arguments and conclude the trial on June 3. At that time, the date of the presidential election had not yet been set.

Previously, on May 7, Lee's legal team requested to postpone the trial dates until after the election, citing Article 116 of the Constitution, which guarantees "equal opportunities for candidates to campaign," and Article 11 of the Public Official Election Act, which prohibits the arrest or detention of presidential candidates during the campaign period. In response, the courts handling both the Public Official Election Act case and the Daejangdong case postponed the hearings originally scheduled for this month to dates after the presidential election.

In this case, Lee is accused of having called Mr. Kim, a former secretary to the late former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byungryang, in December 2018?while Lee was on trial for violating the Public Official Election Act by making false statements?and asking Kim to appear as a witness and provide false testimony favorable to Lee. Lee was acquitted in the first trial.