Lee Jae-myung's Perjury Case Delayed Until After Presidential Election

The appeal trial for Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding charges of perjury has been postponed until after the presidential election. This marks the third delay following the postponement of trials related to violations of the Public Official Election Act and the Daejang-dong case on May 7.

According to legal sources on May 12, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 3, presided over by Judge Lee Jae-gwon, has changed the first hearing date for the appeal, originally set for May 20, to 'to be determined later.' This means that the trial concerning Lee's alleged perjury will be indefinitely postponed.

A representative from the Seoul High Court explained that the change in the court date was due to Lee registering as a presidential candidate over the weekend. He officially registered with the National Election Commission on May 10, prompting the decision to halt the trial proceedings.

Previously, on May 7, Lee's legal team submitted a request for a postponement to the courts handling the Public Official Election Act, Daejang-dong, and perjury cases. The request emphasized that elections are a crucial opportunity for citizens to exercise their sovereignty in a representative democracy, and that the state must effectively guarantee the citizens' voting rights.

As a result, the court handling the Public Official Election Act case has rescheduled its first hearing from May 15 to June 18, while the courts overseeing the Daejang-dong, Wirye, Baekhyeon-dong, and Seongnam FC cases have canceled all scheduled hearings in May, rescheduling the next hearing for June 24.

Consequently, among the five trials Lee is involved in, he will not be required to attend any hearings before the election, except for the preliminary hearings regarding the 'illegal remittance to North Korea' and 'misuse of corporate credit cards in Gyeonggi Province,' which are currently being handled by the Suwon District Court.