SEOUL, March 26 (AJP) - Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party and a leading presidential contender, cleared a major legal obstacle on Wednesday after being acquitted in an appeals trial for violating the Public Official Election Act.
The Seoul High Court overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced Lee to one year in prison with a two-year suspension for allegedly spreading false information during the 2021 presidential primary.
Lee served as mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018, a period marked by major urban development projects, including the controversial Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong developments. His time in office has drawn ongoing political and legal scrutiny, especially as he emerged as a national political figure.
The case focused on Lee's remarks that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former senior official at the Seongnam Development Corporation, and his claim that a land-use change involving the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong was carried out under pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Prosecutors argued that Lee's 2021 comment was a deliberate attempt to deny his past association with Kim. But the court disagreed, finding that the statement did not amount to a denial of personal interaction.
"The court found that the remark was a brief and clear expression of Lee's perception, not a claim about specific actions or relationships that could be deemed as false," the judges said. "Because it did not pertain to concrete conduct, it does not fall under the crime of spreading false information."
The ruling comes at a politically sensitive time, as Lee is widely seen as the most viable presidential candidate for the opposition if the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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