Opposition chief acquitted of instigating perjury

Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted Monday of subornation of perjury, with the Seoul Central District Court ruling him not guilty of allegedly asking a former mayoral secretary to provide false testimony in his favor in late 2018.

Last year, prosecutors charged Lee with attempting to persuade a witness to make false testimony in his favor in December 2018, for a court trial over an alleged election law violation.

Lee was accused of lying during a televised debate during his campaign to become governor of Gyeonggi Province. He said that he had been unfairly convicted in 2004 of impersonating a prosecutor to gather information on a residential development scandal in Bundang.

Kim Jin-seong, who was an aide to now-deceased ex-Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang, testified in the case.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lee in 2020. Prosecutors believe that Kim testimony was a key factor that led to his 2020 acquittal.

The court found no concrete indication that Lee attempted to persuade Kim Jin-seong to make false testimonies from the evidence submitted by the prosecution, including records of phone calls.

"When Lee was calling Kim Jin-seong, whether Kim Jin-seong would actually testify nor the details of the testimony was undecided," the court pointed out.

"The evidence submitted by the prosecution is insufficient to rule that Lee Jae-myung purposely attempted to persuade Kim Jin-seong to make false testimony. We find Lee Jae-myung not guilty according to the Criminal Procedure Act as there is no evidence to prove Lee's criminal charges," it added.

The court explained that Lee's offer to send pretrial briefs to Kim Jin-seong as part of his request to testify for him in court was allowable as part of Lee's right to defend himself. In the recording of a phone call with Kim Jin-seong recently uploaded on Lee's Facebook, Lee says he will send pretrial briefs on the 2018 election violation law case to the former mayoral secretary.

But the court handed the former secretary a a fine of 5 million won ($3,570), saying that some of his testimony in the previous election law violation case was false.

Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office announced plans to file an appeal after Monday's sentencing. If the appellate court hands down a finalized fine of more than 1 million won in this case, and that ruling is then upheld by the Supreme Court, Lee would be barred from running for public office for the next five years, jeopardizing his presidential bid for 2027.

Lee thanked the court for dismissing the charge and for "finding back the truth and justice" for him. With Lee clearing a legal hurdle on Monday, the main opposition party is expected to escalate its challenge against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration while focusing on party unity.

"I hope that from now on, politics will be carried out in a form of co-existence rather than something full of attempts to trample on and kill one another," Lee said in front of the Seoul Central District Court after the verdict was delivered. "Now we should carry out politics that bring people to life rather than kill -- this is what I want to say to the government and the ruling party."

Monday’s verdict comes 10 days after the same Seoul court sentenced him to a suspended one-year prison term, for lying as a candidate during the previous presidential campaign, in a separate case.

The court ruled Lee guilty of making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act and sentenced him to a year in prison, suspended for two years. Both Lee and the prosecution filed appeals. The prosecution had demanded a two-year prison sentence for Lee.

Lee is currently embroiled in multiple court battles, now awaiting verdicts on cases, including his alleged involvement in a North Korean remittance and a bribery case linked to land development scandals in Seongnam.

Prior to the afternoon's verdict, Ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon said that he would watch Monday’s court rulings alongside the public, adding that he expects the Seoul Central District Court to make fair judgments.

“We are expecting the judiciary to hand down a verdict on charges of subornation of perjury against (Democratic Party) Chair Lee today. Cases involving perjury, subornation of perjury and defamation are top examples of obstruction of justice,” Han said during the party’s Supreme Council meeting in the morning.