Cho Kuk Claims "High Possibility of Guilty Verdict for President Lee Jae-myung After Term," Warns Democratic Party Over Case Dismissal

Cho Kuk, Director of the Innovation Policy Institute of the Rebuilding Korea Party, claimed regarding President Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act, "Unless the Supreme Court's legal doctrine is overturned once again, there is a very high possibility that a guilty verdict will be handed down in the appellate trial to resume after President Lee's term ends."

Addressing the Democratic Party of Korea, which is pushing for the dismissal of the prosecution's indictment in cases involving President Lee, he pointed out, "They could face political and legal setbacks."

Through social media today, Director Cho stated, "The Democratic Party welcomed the guilty verdict for Yoon Suk Yeol's violation of the Public Official Election Act regarding the publication of false information. However, this ruling faithfully followed the Supreme Court's legal doctrine of remanding the case with instructions to find then-candidate Lee Jae-myung guilty."

In May of last year, the Supreme Court en banc overturned the appellate court ruling that had acquitted President Lee of violating the Public Official Election Act and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court with instructions to convict.

The core issue in this case was whether President Lee's remarks—made ahead of the 2021 presidential election while explaining his relationship with the late Kim Moon-ki, former head of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, to the effect that a photograph of them playing golf together had been fabricated—constituted the publication of false information.

The Supreme Court ruled that statements such as the claim that the photograph was fabricated constituted the publication of false information.

After President Lee took office, the Seoul High Court decided to postpone scheduling the remand trial date citing Article 84 of the Constitution.

Director Cho also raised issues with the Democratic Party's approach to pushing for the dismissal of the indictment.

He argued, "Dismissal of an indictment is not possible for a case currently undergoing an appellate trial," adding that inserting a provision into a special counsel act to enable the withdrawal of indictments even for cases pending in President Lee's appellate trial could spark constitutional controversies.

Article 255 of the current Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that the dismissal of an indictment can only be made "before the pronouncement of the first instance judgment."

Furthermore, Director Cho asserted, "Any law that gives the impression of being crafted solely for a specific individual is bound to fail. We must accurately distinguish between cases where indictments can be withdrawn at the first instance and cases that must face trial after the president's term concludes, and take measures accordingly."

(Reported by Jung Da-eun, Video Editing by Kim Bok-hyung, Design by Yang Hye-min, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.