With the confirmation of President Lee Jae Myung's election victory, attention is now focused on whether the five ongoing trials involving President Lee will continue. President Lee is currently facing trials in the following cases: the retrial of the public official election law violation case, the appeal trial for perjury instigation, the first trials for the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, Wirye, and Seongnam FC cases, the first trial for the Ssangbangwool Group's alleged remittance to North Korea, and the first trial for the alleged misuse of Gyeonggi Province corporate credit cards.
According to the legal community on June 4, the earliest scheduled trial is the retrial for the alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act, with the first hearing set for June 18 at the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 (Presiding Judge Lee Jaegwon). The Seoul High Court had initially set the first hearing for May 15, but postponed it to June 18 at President Lee's request to delay the date until after the presidential election. For the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, Wirye, and Seongnam FC cases, the next hearing is scheduled for June 24. The preparatory hearings for the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case and the corporate card misuse case are scheduled for July. The appeal trial for the perjury instigation case was originally set to begin with its first hearing on May 20, but the date has been postponed until after the presidential election and is currently delayed without a new date being set.
With President Lee beginning his term, debate is expected to reignite over Article 84 of the Constitution, which stipulates presidential immunity from prosecution. The article states, "The President shall not be subject to criminal prosecution while in office, except for insurrection or treason." The core of the debate concerns the interpretation of "criminal prosecution." One side argues that while new indictments cannot be brought against the sitting president, trials for cases already indicted before taking office may continue. The other side contends that not only new indictments but also ongoing trials for previously indicted cases must be suspended during the presidential term. The Supreme Court's position is that the interpretation of Article 84 is, in principle, up to each individual court handling the respective case. However, since President Lee is likely to be absent from court due to the demands of running the government, there are predictions that, even if the court decides to proceed, it will be practically difficult to continue the hearings.
The Democratic Party has continued to propose legislative amendments aimed at neutralizing President Lee's judicial risks. Previously, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee passed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, which would suspend trials for sitting presidents, and to the Public Official Election Act, which would delete the term "act" from the requirements for false information charges. If these bills pass the plenary session and are promulgated, charges under the election law would be extinguished retroactively, resulting in a "dismissal" verdict. Other trials would also be suspended during the presidential term under the revised Criminal Procedure Act. The Democratic Party submitted a request on June 5 for a special session of the National Assembly in June. While the plenary session schedule and specific bills to be processed have not yet been finalized, there are expectations that the Democratic Party may convene the session soon and pass the amendments to the Public Official Election Act and the Criminal Procedure Act.
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