Main opposition leader faces biggest crisis of political career after guilty verdict

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung leaves the Seoul Central District Court, Friday, after being sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of violating the election law. Yonhap

By Kwak Yeon-soo

• Published Nov 15, 2024 5:01 PM KST
• Updated Nov 17, 2024 5:00 PM KST

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Jae-myung is facing the biggest crisis of his political career after a local court sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for two years, Friday, on charges of violating the election law, according to political watchers.

The Seoul Central District Court delivered its verdict on charges that Lee violated the Public Official Election Act by making false claims about a land development project pursued by the Seongnam government during his term as the city's mayor.

If any prison sentence is finalized, Lee would be stripped of his parliamentary seat and barred from running for public office for the next 10 years. However, if he receives a fine exceeding 1 million won ($713), the ban would last for the next five years. In both cases, he would be unable to run for the 2027 presidential election. Lee, who narrowly lost to President Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 presidential election, has been considered a key contender for the 2027 election.

The DPK will also need to return the 43.4 billion won it received from the National Election Commission to cover its presidential election expenses.

The sentence was much heavier than Lee and the DPK expected. If he is stripped of the right to run for public office for the next five to 10 years, it virtually means his political career would end.

What's worse is that he is standing trial in three other cases, with the verdict for the second one, involving charges of suborning perjury, which is slated for Nov. 25.

While Friday's ruling has prompted the main opposition party to gear up its opposition to Yoon's administration for now, party members — especially anti-Lee factions — may call for an alternative to the current leadership in case Lee's verdict is finalized at the Supreme Court.

The final verdict is expected in the first half of next year, as the National Court Administration is urging courts to adhere to the regulations on trials for election law violation cases. These rules stipulate that both the appellate court and the Supreme Court must issue their rulings within three months of the lower court’s decision.

Experts said the verdict won’t have an immediate impact on the DPK, although it will likely lead the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to intensify its political attacks on Lee.

“This marks the first decision in Lee’s four ongoing criminal cases. For the DPK, the Nov. 25 ruling on charges of perjury is more important. However, today’s result may prompt the DPK to start a discussion for a plan B for their presidential nominee for the 2027 presidential election. The change will likely be visible after 2026 local elections,” Eom Gyeong-yeong, director of political think tank the Zeitgeist Institute, said.

“The PPP will likely escalate political attacks against Lee, but that wouldn’t necessarily lead to a rise in the ruling party’s approval rating. However, it could resolve the conflict between the pro-Yoon faction and the pro-Han Dong-hoon faction within the party,” Eom added.

The PPP called on Lee and the DPK to humbly accept the ruling.

“The court decision was made solely on the basis of evidence and legal principles. Lee and the DPK should humbly accept the ruling and apologize for their misdeeds,” PPP spokesperson Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek said.

The minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party expressed strong regret over the harsh ruling on the main opposition leader.

The opposition leader said he would appeal the court’s decision. “It’s impossible to accept this conclusion. I will appeal,” he said.

Lee was found guilty of making false statements during a parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government in October 2021 when he was the governor. He had claimed that he changed the zoning status of the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, when he was the city mayor, due to pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.

However, allegations were raised that Lee rezoned the site to give preferential treatment to private developers and this caused losses to the city government. The court ruled the rezoning was due to Lee's own decision, not from the ministry's pressure.

Another charge related to a media interview from December 2021, during which he claimed to not know the late Kim Moon-ki, the former head of the development division at Seongnam Development Corp., which was involved in a corruption-ridden development project in Seongnam. He also denied having golfed with Kim in 2015, claiming a photo of them together was fabricated.

Kim, who played a pivotal role in a development project in the city that later became embroiled in a corruption scandal, is believed to have held critical information related to alleged preferential treatment connected to the project. Kim died in 2021.

The court ruled that Lee made false information public by saying he did not play golf with Kim.

Lee is currently standing trial in three other cases: charges of suborning a former mayoral secretary to provide false testimony in his favor, corruption related to the Seongnam development project and involvement in an illegal cash transfer of $8 million to North Korea.

Meanwhile, Lee’s wife, Kim Hye-kyung, was fined 1.5 million won for allegedly misusing a local government credit card for personal expenses, including spending 104,000 won on dining at restaurants, during Lee’s tenure as Gyeonggi governor from 2018 to 2021.