S. Korean opposition leader acquitted of election law violation by appeal court

Lee Jae-myung (C) speaks after he was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court at the Seoul High Court in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2025. South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court on Wednesday, cementing his position as a frontrunner in the next presidential election. (NEWSIS via Xinhua)

SEOUL, March 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court on Wednesday, cementing his position as a frontrunner in the next presidential election.

The Seoul High Court overturned a lower court's ruling, saying Lee, chief of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, made no false statements during the last presidential campaign.

Lee was handed a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, by the Seoul Central District Court in November last year on charges of dissemination of false information during the 2022 presidential election.

Prosecutors had sought a two-year jail sentence for Lee in the first and the appeal trials.

By law, Lee would lose his parliamentary seat and be barred from running in an election for 10 years if he received a fine of over 1 million won (680 U.S. dollars) for election law violation as confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Lee, who lost the 2022 election to impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol by the country's narrowest margin, has been widely seen as the most powerful contender for the next presidential election.

According to a survey by local pollster Flower, 49.6 percent said they will vote for the Democratic Party's candidate in the next presidential election, while 29.5 percent were in favor of the ruling People Power Party's candidate.

Lee was the most favored as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate with a support rate of 85.5 percent.

The result was based on a poll of 3,004 voters conducted from March 17 to 20. It had plus and minus 1.8 percentage points in margin of error with a 95-percent confidence level.

Both supporters and critics of Lee shouted opposing slogans on separate streets near the court, holding signs that read "Lee Jae-myung is innocent" and "Go to prison, Jae-myung."

Lee was indicted in 2022 over statements he made during a media interview in December 2021 as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, when he denied he had known a senior official at the urban development arm of the city of Seongnam where he was mayor from 2010 to 2018.

Lee said he was unable to remember the late official during the TV interview, but prosecutors argued that Lee lied to voters to distance himself from an alleged land development project's corruption linked to the urban development arm.

Lee was also accused of making false claims during a parliamentary audit in October 2021 when Lee, then Gyeonggi province governor, said he was threatened by the land ministry of then conservative government and changed the designation of land use for a separate land development project in 2015 when he was the Seongnam mayor.

Prosecutors said there was no threat posed by the land ministry, but Lee stressed that the land ministry pressured Seongnam city despite his admission of exaggerated expression.

Lee Jae-myung (C) speaks after he was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court at the Seoul High Court in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2025. South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court on Wednesday, cementing his position as a frontrunner in the next presidential election. (NEWSIS via Xinhua)

Lee Jae-myung waves to the crowd after he was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court at the Seoul High Court in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2025. South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court on Wednesday, cementing his position as a frontrunner in the next presidential election. (NEWSIS via Xinhua)

Lee Jae-myung (C) speaks after he was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court at the Seoul High Court in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2025. South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court on Wednesday, cementing his position as a frontrunner in the next presidential election. (NEWSIS via Xinhua)