The Democratic Party of Korea is expressing anxiety regarding the swift start of the Supreme Court appeal in the case of Lee Jae-myung, a candidate for the presidential primary accused of violating the Public Official Election Act. Democratic Party lawmakers from the Constitutional Judiciary Committee are holding a press conference, while the Pro-Lee faction is organizing a forum to discuss the candidate's election law trial.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, lawmakers from the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party, who are members of the Judiciary Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly's communication hall and said, "The Supreme Court assigned this case to Division 2 this morning and immediately sent it to the full bench, assigning Justice Park Young-jae as the lead judge," adding, "We believe that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's intentions played a significant role in this decision."
They emphasized, "The decision to refer the case to the full bench was made very quickly, raising many questions among the public," stating, "It is an unprecedented practice to have passed through such a formal hearing with the intention of referring it to the full bench from the beginning, which is an exceptional pattern that has not been witnessed before."
The lawmakers from the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party also stated, "The Supreme Court is attempting another shift in principle at a time when the people's exercise of sovereignty is imminent, given that we are approaching a presidential election due to the impeachment of the current president," adding, "The social interest in the case of a prominent presidential candidate is growing as a result of this shift."
The Democratic Party is responding sensitively to the swift progress of the Supreme Court's appeal. As the presidential election trend is leaning towards 'Lee Jae-myung is the inevitable president,' the only remaining variable for the candidate is the judicial risk. In particular, the resurgence of the judicial risk, which was seen as resolved following a not guilty verdict in the second trial, has had a significant impact.
The Pro-Lee faction's meeting known as 'The Young People's Forum' is set to hold a discussion on the 24th at the National Assembly's congressional building regarding the election law appeal related to the candidate. Professor Lee Jin-guk from Ajou University School of Law, who will participate as a presenter at the forum, is expected to emphasize the inappropriateness of the Supreme Court appeals and the referral to the full bench related to the candidate's election law violation case.
The Young People's Forum stated, "We organized this discussion to ensure that the Supreme Court can practice judicial justice independently without political pressure," and added, "In some far-right circles, there appears to be an intention to finalize a guilty verdict on the election law violation against the candidate before the election day on June 3, thus depriving the public of their democratic right to elect a president."