Court dismisses Lee Jae-myung’s request for reallocation on ‘illegal remittance’ case

[Anchor]

In relation to the 'illegal remittance to North Korea' case, the defense team of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, requested a reassignment of the trial court, but it was not accepted.

The request was to change the court that previously convicted former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young in the North Korean remittance case, but the court stated that accepting the request could create another constitutional risk.

Lee Won-hee reports.

[Report]

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, has been indicted on charges including bribery related to the 'illegal remittance to North Korea' case.

On Sept. 30, his defense team filed a request for reassignment of the trial court.

Earlier, in June, the court handling Lee's case sentenced former Gyeonggi Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young to 9 years and 6 months in prison for illegal remittance to North Korea.

[Lee Jae-myung/Democratic Party Leader: "(Why did you request the reassignment of the North Korean remittance trial court?) ...."]

Eight days after the reassignment request, a preparatory hearing was held.

The defense argued, "The evidence in the cases of former Vice Governor Lee and Representative Lee overlaps significantly," and claimed, "No matter how much the court intends to conduct a fair trial, it cannot be seen as having no preconceived notions or biases."

In response, the prosecution stated, "There must be objective circumstances indicating that the court will conduct an unfair trial for a request to disqualify the court, but there are no such reasons in this case," and called it a claim aimed at delaying the trial.

The court did not accept the reassignment request and stated "There are cases where the same court is assigned when the parties or defendants are the same, but there is no clear practical or legal basis for the opposite case."

It also pointed out that reassignment in this situation could undermine other constitutional values.

[Moon Cheol-ki/KBS Advisory Lawyer: "(If the reassignment request is accepted) I think there are concerns about infringing on another constitutional value such as right to equality where all citizens are equal before the law, and the independence of judges where they adjudicate independently according to their conscience based on the Constitution and laws."]

The leader of the Democratic Party requested to be tried in Seoul in July, but the Supreme Court dismissed the request.

KBS News, Lee Won-hee.