[Editorial] Ruling in the spotlight

Opposition ups pressure on court with leader’s political fate at stake

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is intensifying its pressure on the nation's courts ahead of their initial rulings on cases involving the party's leader.

Decisions on two charges facing Lee Jae-myung -- violating election law and suborning perjury -- will be made tomorrow and Nov. 25, respectively.

Lee is accused of violating election law by giving false information to voters in the 2022 presidential election. He claimed ahead of the election that Kim Moon-ki, senior manager at Seongnam Urban Development Corp., who committed suicide in connection with the Daejang-dong residential development scandal, was a stranger to him when he was Seongnam mayor. Lee also said that he was forced to change the zoning of a Baekhyeon-dong site from a green area to a quasi-residential area because of threats from the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry. The ministry denied threatening him.

The prosecution demanded a sentence of two years in prison for Lee's alleged violation of election law. If the court convicts Lee and hands down a penalty of 1 million won ($711) or more, he will lose his seat as a lawmaker and be disqualified from running for president or any other elected office for five years. The Democratic Party must also return 43.4 billion won in funding it received from the National Election Commission.

Under election law, the state reimburses all campaign expenses for presidential candidates who win 15 percent or more of the vote. Lee won 47.83 percent. If the presidential candidate gains a different public office -- such as Lee winning a seat in parliament -- but that position is ultimately invalidated by the judiciary, the party that nominated the candidate for the publicly-funded presidential race must pay back the expenses in full.

Nothing would be more grave than this for a party whose main office building is reportedly valued at around 34 billion won.

Recently the Democratic Party held rallies in Seoul urging a special counsel probe of allegations involving President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee. It plans to hold another rally on Nov. 16 jointly with other opposition parties that have called for the impeachment of the president.

The party says its rallies have nothing to do with Lee's criminal trials, but the rallies serve to demonstrate the party's political power to the courts. The party plans to rally tomorrow near the courthouse where the ruling on Lee will be made.

It is also going to submit a petition to the courts essentially asking for his acquittal. It claims the petition was signed by more than one million people, but there was no identity authentication process.

In a recent session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee reviewing the government budget for next year, the party is said to have increased the budget for the judiciary by 24.6 billion won. This move gives the impression that the party seeks to appease the judiciary and discourage a severe judgment against Lee.

In contrast, it slashed the budget for the prosecution: 8 billion won in expenses for special investigation activities requiring confidentiality and 50.6 billion won in expenses for the performance of specific tasks.

This makes it hard for the party to avoid criticism that it is retaliating against the prosecution. There are concerns that reduced funding for investigations will lead to a rise in crime.

If Lee and his party were convinced of his innocence, there would be no need to try to influence the courts. If Lee finds the initial rulings unacceptable, he can appeal to higher courts.

In an apparent bid to counter the Democratic Party's pressure on judges, the ruling People Power Party petitioned the court handling Lee's election law charges to allow a live broadcast of its sentencing session. Though the court decided not to permit a broadcast, the proposal has a point. Lee is the leader of an opposition party with a large majority in the National Assembly, and he is its former presidential candidate. The trial concerns the alleged lies of a highly influential politician.

The judges likely feel burdened ruling in cases that could determine Lee’s political fate and require his party to refund more than 40 billion won in campaign expenses. But if they issue a politically biased ruling, the election law will be a dead letter. They must rule strictly based on evidence and the principles of law. All eyes are on them.

By Korea Herald(khnews@heraldcorp.com)