The court’s ruling removes barriers that could prevent Lee Jae Myung from running for president.
South Korea’s appeals court overturned the 2024 legal ruling, finding that major opposition leader Lee Jaemune has not committed a crime of violating election laws, removing barriers that could prevent him from running for the president.
Following Wednesday’s verdict, Lee was charged with a year in prison in November — said a decision by the Seoul High Court has fully proven him and proven the case is politically motivated.
“It’s truly outrageous that all this energy and all the resources of the nation have been spent on being a clear outcome,” he said.
The Court of Appeals overturned an earlier ruling that admitted Lee was guilty of making a false claim during a 2021 council audit on a land development project in Song Nam, where he served as mayor.
If upheld, the ruling would strip Lee of his seat on parliament and bar him from running in the next presidential election.
For now, polls show he is at the forefront of President Yoon Sook-Yeol if the leaders who fought are supported.
There may be an election this year
South Korea will have a snap vote within 60 days if the Constitutional Court upheld Yoon’s bluff each of his short-lived martial law declarations in December.
Lee, the leading opposition Democratic leader, is considered the top candidate for the next presidential election, but faces legal challenges.
It was unclear whether the prosecutors would decide to appeal the High Court decision on Wednesday in the Supreme Court.
In addition to election law violation cases, he also faces several other trials, ranging from bribery to charges primarily related to a billion-dollar real estate development scandals.
In South Korea, politicians are convicted of violating election laws, fined over 1 million people ($680 or more) or suspended sentences, and if convicted, they are barred from running for elections for at least five years and stripped of their parliamentary seats.
Lee, 61, opposed Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, losing by the thinnest margin in history.
In 2024, he survived a knife attack when he underwent surgery after being stabbed in the neck by a man during an event.
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