South Korea: Opposition leader acquitted of subornation of perjury charges
Seoul(The Uttam Hindu): Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted Monday of charges of suborning a former mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favour, a ruling expected to ease his legal challenges ahead of an anticipated presidential run in 2027.
Lee, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, was accused of suborning a secretary to former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang to give false testimony during a 2019 trial on his alleged election law violations, Yonhap news agency reported. The trial centred on charges that Lee, as a candidate for Gyeonggi governor, lied during a TV debate in 2018 about his conviction in the early 2000s, which was for impersonating a prosecutor in collaboration with a KBS TV news producer in order to investigate the mayor over a real estate corruption scandal.
Prosecutors later accused Lee of pressuring the secretary, Kim Jin-seong, to support his remark at the debate that he had been framed. The prosecution said Kim's false testimony helped win Lee's acquittal in the election law violation case and demanded three years in prison for Lee and 10 months for Kim. "Based only on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor, there is not enough evidence that Lee Jae-myung deliberately tried to make Kim Jin-seong resolve to commit perjury," the Seoul Central District Court said in delivering its ruling. The court, however, found Kim Jin-seong guilty of committing perjury and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won ($3,570).
The ruling was closely watched as it came only 10 days after the same court sentenced Lee to a suspended one-year prison term for making false statements as a candidate during the 2022 presidential campaign. If that sentence is upheld, Lee will be stripped of his parliamentary seat and barred from running for public office for 10 years, including the 2027 presidential election. Lee is also standing trial in three other cases on charges of corruption in connection with development projects in Seongnam, involvement in an illegal cash transfer of $8 million to North Korea and embezzlement of funds from the Gyeonggi provincial government.
"I thank the court that restored the truth and justice," Lee said outside the court after his acquittal. "I will continue to do my best for a better life for our people." He later presided over a closed-door meeting of the party's Supreme Council at the National Assembly. When asked by reporters about his feelings on the verdict, he said it demonstrated that "justice prevails." The opposition leader has widely been considered a front-runner in the next election after having lost to President Yoon Suk Yeol by 0.73 percentage point in 2022.
