Cho Kuk, head of policy at the Rebuilding Korea Party Innovation Policy Institute, said on the 1st, "Unless the Supreme Court's legal reasoning is reversed again, there is a very high possibility that a guilty verdict will be handed down in the retrial at the appeals court that will resume after President Lee Jae-myung's term."
On Facebook that day, Cho referred to the Democratic Party of Korea's push for the "fabricated indictment special counsel bill" and the issue of withdrawing the indictment, and stated accordingly.
Cho said, "The Democratic Party welcomed the guilty verdict for Yoon Suk-yeol under the Public Official Election Act for publishing false information," adding, "But this ruling was handed down in faithful adherence to the Supreme Court's legal reasoning in the remand with a guilty purport regarding then-candidate Lee Jae-myung."
He continued, "To withdraw the indictment on the grounds of a fabricated indictment, the 'fabricated indictment' must be confirmed," and "Evidence of 'fabrication' must be secured through an inspection by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office into the prosecutor in question, or an investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials."
Before the 2021 presidential election, the president is on trial for publishing false information under the Public Official Election Act by suggesting that a photo of him playing golf with the late Kim Moon-gi, former Minister of the Seongnam Development Corporation, was fabricated, and by saying during a National Assembly audit that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport pressured officials regarding the change of land use for Baekhyeon-dong. The Supreme Court overturned the appeals court's acquittal in this case and remanded it with a guilty purport. The trial is currently suspended based on Article 84 of the Constitution.
Citing Article 255 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which says an indictment can be withdrawn only before the first-instance verdict is pronounced, Cho said, "It is impossible to withdraw an indictment in a case where the appeal is underway." He added, "The Yoon Suk-yeol prosecution's abuse of power was not limited to the president," and "If any law gives the impression that it is made only for a particular individual, it fails."