All 5 criminal trials against President Lee now halted

Court postpones Lee’s trial over alleged illegal North Korea payments, suspending all criminal cases filed before he took office

President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on July 22, 2025. /Yonhap

A South Korean court on July 22 suspended President Lee Jae-myung’s trial over alleged illegal payments to North Korea, effectively halting all five criminal cases brought against him before he took office last month. Hearings in his perjury case, election law retrial, the Daejang-dong case, and the Gyeonggi Province corporate card misuse case have all faced repeated delays.

The Suwon District Court said during the seventh pretrial hearing that it would not set a trial date for President Lee for the time being. The case involves charges of third-party bribery, violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act. Former Gyeonggi Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young and former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae are also charged in the same case.

The judge explained, “Defendant Lee is the President of South Korea and the head of state, representing the country. To ensure the smooth running of government, trial dates for the President will be set after his term ends.”

However, the court scheduled the main trial for co-defendants Lee Hwa-young and Kim Seong-tae on Sept. 9, saying that waiting until the end of the President’s five-year term could make key testimony unreliable. “To uncover the truth, we will proceed with their trials,” the court said. It added that it is mindful of concerns about President Lee’s right to a fair defense and will consider any future objections related to the trial process.

Ri Jong-hyok (center), vice chairman of North Korea's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, poses with then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung (left) and Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young (right) during his visit to Gyeonggi Province for the International Convention for Peace and Prosperity in the Asia Pacific in November 2018. /Yonhap

The same court on July 1 also postponed Lee’s trial over alleged misuse of Gyeonggi Province corporate cards, citing similar reasons. Although the court did not reference a specific legal provision, the decision appears to follow Article 84 of the Constitution, which grants a sitting president immunity from criminal prosecution. However, legal experts remain divided on whether that protection applies only to new indictments or also to ongoing trials initiated before taking office.

Previously, courts overseeing Lee’s election law violation case and the Daejang-dong development case ruled that presidential immunity includes trials and suspended both proceedings last month. His perjury coaching trial was also halted in May, just before the presidential election.

The Suwon Court Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. /News1

Lee faces accusations that while serving as Gyeonggi Province governor in 2019, he arranged for former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae to pay $8 million to North Korea. The sum allegedly included $5 million for a smart farm project that Gyeonggi had pledged to support, and $3 million to fund Lee’s planned visit to the North.

Prosecutors argue the payment constituted a de facto bribe intended to help Lee achieve political gains through engagement with North Korea. He was indicted without detention on June 12 last year on charges including third-party bribery.