South Korean opposition leader convicted, unlikely to run for election

(CLO) South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been sentenced to one year of probation for perjury during a previous presidential election campaign.

If upheld, this ruling would strip him of his parliamentary seat and bar him from participating in the next presidential election in 2027.

On November 15, the Seoul Central District Court announced that Lee, the leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP), was found guilty of perjury in violation of the Public Service Election Act, and sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for two years.

Lee is accused of lying in a December 2021 media interview, claiming he did not know former South Korean National Assembly member Kim Moon-ki, the former CEO of Seongnam Development, the company behind a corrupt project in Seongnam, Seoul, when Lee was mayor of the city. Lee also implied that he did not play golf with Kim during a trip to Australia.

Lee was also accused of lying during a parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi provincial government in October 2021, claiming he was pressured by the Ministry of Land to rezone the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Seongnam. This site was subsequently developed into apartment complexes by a private developer, and there were allegations that Lee rezoned the land to favor the company.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung speaks to the media outside the Seoul Central Court in southern Seoul on November 15, after the court sentenced him to one year of probation for lying during the 2022 presidential election campaign. Photo: Yonhap

In a statement explaining its ruling on November 15, the Seoul Central District Court said that spreading misinformation during the election process would prevent voters from making informed choices and could harm democracy.

"His crime is quite serious. Freedom of speech in elections must be recognized, but the distortion of public opinion through inaccurate information must be taken into account," the court added.

Lee is considered the leading candidate in the next South Korean presidential election, after losing to President Yoon Suk Yeol by a margin of 0.73 percentage points in 2022.

According to the Public Service Election Act, the court only needs to fine Lee 1 million won or more to strip him of his parliamentary seat and ban him from running for public office for the next five years, including the 2027 presidential election.

If the November 15 ruling is upheld, the DP party will also have to return the 43.4 billion won it received from the state election supervisory agency to cover the costs of the 2022 presidential election.

Prosecutors have requested a two-year prison sentence for Mr. Lee.

Mr. Lee announced he would appeal the ruling. "This is a conclusion that is difficult to accept, starting from the basic facts," he told reporters outside the courthouse.

This is the first of four sentences handed down to the opposition leader. He now faces three more court appearances on charges of bribing the former mayor's secretary to testify falsely in court, corruption related to the Seongnam project, and involvement in the illegal transfer of $8 million to North Korea.

Ngoc Anh (according to Yonhap, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/lanh-dao-doi-lap-han-quoc-bi-ket-an-kho-co-the-tranh-cu-post321509.html