DPK presidential candidate's retrial postponed until after election

Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung greets people at Imsil Market in North Jeolla Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

The Seoul High Court postponed the first hearing in the retrial of Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, who faces charges of violating the nation's election law, to June 18, after the upcoming presidential election.

In addition, a hearing for Lee's Daejang-dong development case has also been rescheduled for June 24.

The appellate court had initially scheduled the hearing for May 15, following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Lee’s acquittal and return the case for retrial.

The court explained that the hearing was postponed until after the presidential election to ensure a fair campaign environment for the candidate and to avoid any controversy over the trial’s impartiality.

It added that the proceedings will remain free from internal or external influence, reaffirming its commitment to a fair and independent ruling based strictly on the Constitution and the law.

Lee welcomed the court’s decision, calling it a reasonable move in line with the spirit of the Constitution.

However, former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon criticized the move, accusing the court of “succumbing to pressure from Lee and the DPK” and describing it as a disgraceful change to the trial's schedule.

Earlier, Lee’s attorney had filed a motion requesting the postponement until after the June 3 election, following the court’s initial decision to hold the first hearing next week.

The defense cited Article 116 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal opportunity for election campaigning, as well as the Public Official Election Act, which prohibits the arrest or detention of presidential candidates during the campaign period.

The court appeared to take the argument into consideration, as its decision to delay the hearing referenced the need to ensure fair campaigning conditions.

Lee was indicted on charges of publicly disseminating false information.

In December 2021, then-presidential candidate Lee claimed during a televised appearance that he was not acquainted with the late Kim Moon-ki, a key official at the Seongnam Development Corporation who was involved in a controversial urban development project. He also alleged during a parliamentary audit that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had pressured Seongnam City to rezone a site in Baekhyeon-dong owned by the Korea Food Research Institute.

The first trial found him guilty of the key charges and sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for two years. However, the appellate court ruled on March 26 that his statements merely constituted a "perception" or "expression of opinion" and could not be punished, acquitting him of all charges.

On May 1, the Supreme Court overturned the appellate court’s ruling, stating that it was based on a misinterpretation of the law, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court with instructions to reconsider the case based on its legal interpretation, which supported a guilty verdict.

The top court’s unusually swift ruling favoring a guilty verdict, followed by the appellate court’s prompt scheduling of the retrial, drew criticism from the DPK.

Following the Seoul High Court’s decision to delay the retrial, the Seoul Central District Court also postponed hearings in a separate case related to the Daejang-dong development scandal until after the presidential election. Hearings had originally been set for May 13 and 27.

The Daejang-dong case centers on allegations of breach of trust and bribery during Lee’s term as Seongnam mayor, in which private developers allegedly reaped excessive profits while the city suffered financial losses.

Lee’s legal team submitted requests to delay hearings in both the Daejang-dong case and a separate perjury instigation trial, following the court’s approval to postpone his election law violation retrial.

Meanwhile, the appeals trial for the perjury instigation case — a separate proceeding from both the election law violation retrial and the Daejang-dong development case — has held two pretrial hearings, with the first trial set to go ahead as originally scheduled on May 20.