Court finds opposition leader not guilty of inciting perjury

Nov 26, 2024, 12:21 pm

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Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, leaves the court after being acquitted of the first trial on charges of perjury on Nov. 25, 2024./ Source: Joint Press Corps

AsiaToday reporter Lee Han-sol

Main opposition Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung was acquitted on Monday in his first trial of a perjury case in which he allegedly pressured a formal mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favor. There are concerns in the political world that it would be more difficult to prove Lee’s perjury allegations.

Many political observers said that Lee’s acquittal will allow the opposition bloc to put more pressure on the prosecution and the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

It was widely expected that the court would impose a heavy sentence against Lee since the trial had clear evidence of guilt. However, contrary to the outlook, Lee was acquitted while Kim Jin-seong, a former secretary to ex-Seongnam Mayor Kim Byeong-ryang, was found partially guilty. Critics say that the ruling has made it virtually impossible to prove perjury conducted by a powerful person such as a provincial governor to a non-powerful person such as a mayoral secretary.

“The ruling seems to be completely different from the public’s expectations. It’s hard to understand,” said Park In-hwan, a former prosecutor and co-chairman of the Citizens United for Better Society (CUBS). “Lee and the Democratic Party are likely to escalate attacks on prosecutors under the Yoon administration, creating more confusion to the society.” he added.

“The ruling seems to be against the legal sentiment,” said lawyer Lee Kyung-hwan. “If these precedents continue, perjury cases by those in power will be difficult to be recognized unless there are concrete and solid evidence,” he said.

Regarding the possibility of the result being overturned in the second trial, lawyer Lee said, “Of course. It could change. Different judges have different opinions.”

Some say that Lee has not cleared the judicial risk completely as other trials remain. However, there are concerns about the possibility of affecting future trials as the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement Department 33, which sentenced the first trial, is also hearing Lee’s other four cases, some of which connected to development projects in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong and Wirye districts, and the city’s municipal football club,

With the acquittal, the DP is expected to step up its criticism of the Yoon administration and the prosecution.

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