Trials involving Lee Jae-myung likely to be halted if he wins election: experts

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, applauds during an event at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, Thursday. Newsis

The delayed court hearing for Lee Jae-myung's alleged election law violations is unlikely to go ahead on June 18 — or at any point during the next five years — if he wins the June 3 presidential election, experts said Thursday.

The previous day, a parliamentary judiciary committee dominated by the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) — Lee's political base — passed a bill seeking to suspend all criminal trials for a president-elect, in a move widely seen as an attempt to shield its candidate from ongoing legal risks.

The move came about a week after the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that had cleared Lee of election law violations and sent the case back to the appellate court. The Seoul High Court subsequently postponed the first hearing — originally set for May 15 — to mid-June, amid growing pressure from DPK lawmakers.

But the hearing is unlikely to take place at all, experts say.

The DPK, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, is expected to unilaterally approve the bill to suspend the trial and four others in progress for Lee — and there is nothing conservatives can do to stop it, according to experts.

“If the conservative camp loses the presidential right to veto that bill, they can’t stop it,” Lee Joon-han, a professor of political science at Incheon National University, told The Korea Times.

The only process left to pass the bill is a vote by the full Assembly. Experts say DPK lawmakers may wait a couple of weeks more before putting up for a vote so that acting President Lee Ju-ho won’t be able to exercise the right to veto it before the election.

The conservative People Power Party may challenge the new law at the Constitutional Court. But if Lee wins, few expect its justices to issue a decision that would challenge the legitimacy of his presidency.

“The Constitutional Court and its decision in that case will surely be influenced by the results of the election,” said Kim Sung-joo, an honorary professor at Sungkyunkwan University.

Article 84 of the Constitution says a sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted during his or her term, except in cases of insurrection or treason. But the article doesn’t clearly stipulate whether this immunity extends to ongoing trials that began before taking office. The goal of the bill is to ensure that presidential immunity applies to trials in progress, too, and leave no room for other legal interpretations.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is tight-lipped during the final hearing for the election violation case of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, at the courtroom in Seoul, May 1. Newsis

Meanwhile, the DPK is preparing to question Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae over the ruling that revived Lee’s legal risks, approving a bill to hold an Assembly hearing on Wednesday. Cho has been accused of “trying to intervene” in the election by proceeding swiftly with Lee's case and issuing the ruling earlier than many expected.

Since the ruling, Cho has come under growing criticism from the DPK and liberal groups.

“If Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae has any conscience left, he should step down from the bench. That’s the only way he can restore some of the trust in the judiciary that he has damaged,” Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, chief spokesman for its election committee, said in a statement released Thursday.

In addition to Cho, 11 other justices who participated in the final trial on May 1 were told by the Assembly to attend the hearing. It is not yet clear whether they will do so.

According to Rep. Jung Chung-rae, chief of the Assembly’s judiciary committee, the DPK also plans to approve a bill seeking to launch an investigation into Cho under the supervision of a special prosecutor.