Court expedites Lee's case

[Anchor]

The second hearing of the final trial for former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was held today (Apr. 24).

It has been just two days since the case was referred to the Supreme Court's full bench, which is at an unprecedentedly fast pace.

Attention is focused on whether a ruling will be made before the presidential election.

Reporter Kim Tae-hoon has examined the key issues of the final trial and the expected timing of the ruling.

[Report]

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae arrives at work with a composed expression.

Chief Justice Cho, who is presiding over the trial of former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act, conducted the second full bench hearing today.

The procedures are progressing at an unprecedented speed, just two days after the case was referred to the full bench.

It appears that the Supreme Court justices have already begun reviewing the legal principles regarding the main issues of the case.

The Supreme Court generally focuses only on legal interpretation, so the issues can be summarized into two main points.

First is the interpretation of Lee's statements that he "did not know Kim Moon-ki" and that "the change of land use in Baekhyeon-dong was due to threats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."

[Lee Jae-myung/then Democratic Party presidential candidate/Dec. 29, 2021/Channel A 'Lee Jae-myung's Proposal': "It was shown as if I played golf, but when I checked, it turned out that part of a group photo we took was taken out and shown like this. It was manipulated."]

It is also necessary to consider whether these statements can be punished under Article 250, Paragraph 1 of the Public Official Election Act for the crime of publicizing false facts.

The first trial court interpreted them as false facts and sentenced him guilty, while the second trial court ruled that the statements regarding former Director Kim were not punishable as they were 'perceptions' rather than 'actions,' and found the statements about Baekhyeon-dong to be expressions of opinion, thus acquitting him.

Therefore, the Supreme Court's final judgment has become even more important.

Chief Justice Cho emphasized the 'expedited processing regulations' that state public election law cases should be handled within six months for the first trial and within three months for the second and third trials.

According to these regulations, the ruling deadline is before June 26.

Given the speed of the trial, there are predictions that a ruling could be made before the presidential election on June 3.

The Supreme Court is expected to announce the next hearing date as early as tomorrow (Apr. 25).

KBS News, Kim Tae-hoon.