Article 84 debate reignites

[Anchor]

As you have seen, there are observations that it will be difficult to reach a final ruling before the presidential election, and the controversy surrounding Article 84 of the Constitution is heating up.

If candidate Lee Jae-myung is elected president, there is a sharp disagreement over whether his trials should be suspended.

Reporter Kim Young-hoon has the details.

[Report]

Currently, candidate Lee Jae-myung is facing a total of five trials.

These include a case of violating the Public Official Election Act, which has just begun its retrial, allegations of witness tampering, suspicions regarding the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong development projects, and allegations of illegal remittances to North Korea by Ssangbangwool and misuse of corporate credit cards.

As a result, the controversy surrounding Article 84 of the Constitution, which stipulates the president's immunity from prosecution, is growing more intense than ever.

While some interpret that ongoing trials should be halted to support the stable execution of presidential duties, others argue that the term "prosecution" should be narrowly defined to mean only the suspension of investigations and indictments, allowing the trials to continue.

According to the latter interpretation, even if candidate Lee is elected, he may have to attend five trials in his capacity as president.

Additionally, depending on the content of the final ruling, there may be further controversies regarding restrictions on his eligibility to run for office after being elected.

The interpretation of the contentious Article 84 of the Constitution has become a hot potato.

However, since this situation is unprecedented and the Supreme Court did not specifically address this issue in its retrial ruling, there are also observations that each court may autonomously decide whether to proceed with the trials based on Article 103 of the Constitution, which guarantees the independence of judges.

[Cha Jin-ah/Professor at Korea University Law School: "For now, each court should continue the trials, and since the Constitutional Court
is the authoritative body for interpretation, it seems appropriate for it to make a judgment on this matter."]

If the trials proceed after his election, there is a possibility that candidate Lee may file a dispute over the authority with the Constitutional Court, claiming that his presidential rights have been infringed.

This is KBS News, Kim Young-hoon.