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Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-mung exits the Seoul High Court on March 26, 2025, after being acquitted of violating election laws. (pool photo)

An appeals court has overturned the conviction of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who had been handed a one-year prison sentence by a lower court for publishing falsehoods and violating the Public Officials Election Act during the last presidential election. 

Lee, who would have been barred from running for president for the next 10 years if the previous ruling had been upheld, is now the most promising contender to become Korea’s next president. 
 
A criminal division of the Seoul High Court presided over by Judge Choi Eun-jeong acquitted Lee of all charges of violating election law on Wednesday, saying, “The evidence submitted by the prosecution alone cannot prove Lee’s statements to be false.”
 
Lee was sent to trial in September 2022 for allegedly spreading falsehoods by claiming in a televised interview in December 2021 that he did not know Kim Moon-ki, an official who had died after being investigated in the corruption scandal in Seongnam’s Daejang neighborhood, and for stating during an October 2021 parliamentary audit investigating allegations of preferential treatment in the development of a site in Seongnam that as governor of the city, he acquiesced to rezoning after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened to take him to court for dereliction of duty. 
 
The court stated, “We reverse the lower court’s ruling and find Lee not guilty by stating that the threats that surfaced in the Baekhyeon neighborhood case were exaggerations, not false statements. We can recognize that Seongnam City was under pressure regarding rezoning in Seongnam, and precedents from the Supreme Court show that if the important bulk of what was disclosed is consistent with objective facts, it cannot be considered a false statement even if some details are exaggerated.”
 
“Lee cannot be punished for the spreading of false information as the statement was an expression of an opinion,” the court ruled.
 
The lower court had found Lee guilty of spreading false information when he said that a photograph taken during an overseas business trip in 2015, where Lee was seen with Kim while donning a golfing cap, was “manipulated.” The photograph was shared by ruling party politicians, suggesting Lee had known Kim and in fact golfed with him. 

The appeals court cleared him of those charges by stating, “As the original photograph was taken abroad and features 10 individuals at the same time, it cannot be used as evidence to prove that Lee actively participated in playing golf.” 

“Since the photo has been taken out of its original context, we contend that the evidence could be seen as having been manipulated,” the court said. 

Lee’s comments in which he stated that he “did not know Kim” could not be punishable as the statement proved how he “perceived” Kim and did not constitute him spreading false information.
 
“Justice will prevail,” Lee said upon leaving the courthouse. “I hope that the prosecution sincerely repents and refrains from wasting further national resources.” 

The prosecution is reviewing whether it will appeal the ruling.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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