Heated debate over whether Lee Jae-myung's first trial verdict should be broadcast live

[Anchor]

There is currently a heated debate over whether to live broadcast the first trial verdict of Representative Lee Jae-myung, scheduled for next Friday.

The key issue seems to be whether the live broadcast serves the public interest.

Kim Young-hoon reports.

[Report]

During the last presidential election, Representative Lee Jae-myung, who was the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, stated that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, the head of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who died while under investigation for the Daejang-dong case.

[Lee Jae-myung/December 22, 2021/then Democratic Party presidential candidate/SBS News Briefing with Joo Young-jin: "I did not know him (Director Kim Moon-ki) while I was mayor. He was a lower-level employee. He was probably a team leader at that time."]

Representative Lee also mentioned during a National Assembly audit that there were threats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regarding the Baekhyeon-dong development project.

The prosecution has charged Representative Lee with violating the Public Official Election Act, claiming that these statements constitute a deliberate false statement, and the first trial verdict will be delivered roughly 2 years and 2 months later, on November 15th.

The prosecution has demanded a 2-year prison sentence, and if Representative Lee is sentenced to a fine of over 1 million won in the first trial and it is finalized, he will effectively bar him from running in the next presidential election.

Additionally, the Democratic Party will have to return the 43.4 billion won in election costs received from the Election Commission, making the outcome of the first trial a matter of great interest.

As a result, there is a fierce debate in the political arena over whether to live broadcast the trial.

[Choo Kyung-ho/Leader of the People Power Party/Nov. 5: "To prevent organized backlash and the possibility of noncompliance, it is in the public interest to transparently broadcast the first trial verdict live."]

[Park Chan-dae/Leader of the Democratic Party/Nov. 6: "This is a malicious intent to stigmatize the opposition leader and psychologically pressure the court to achieve the desired outcome."]

If it is determined that the public interest is greater, the court can permit a live broadcast even if the defendant does not agree.

So far, the trials of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak have been broadcasted
live, with the decision made three days before the ruling.

In contrast, the cases of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Choi Seo-won were not allowed to be broadcast live due to the harm it would cause the defendants to be greater than gains for the public interest.

KBS News, Kim Young-hoon.