The Seoul High Court on the 26th ruled that Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung did not publish false facts when he stated that he did not play golf with the late Kim Moon-ki, former head of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was a key practitioner in the Daejang-dong case during his time as mayor of Seongnam. This decision contrasts sharply with the first trial's finding that the statement constituted the publication of false facts.
Lee was indicted for publishing false facts during the last presidential election, as he made four grants during a broadcast debate (election law violation). The prosecution presented Lee's publication of false facts in two major ways in its indictment.
First, the prosecution claims that the statements related to Kim Moon-ki amount to the publication of false facts. These include Lee's statement that he did not know Kim during his time as mayor of Seongnam and that he did not play golf with Kim during the overseas business trip.
The first trial court ruled that Lee's statement, 'I did not know Kim during my time as mayor of Seongnam,' could not be punished as the publication of false facts. The reasoning was that under election law, the publication of false facts pertains to 'acts'—whether someone did something or did not. The state of knowing or not knowing a person does not fall under an act.
On the other hand, the first trial court determined that Lee's statement, 'I did not play golf with Kim,' should be punished as the publication of false facts. The court viewed it as a deliberate lie since it was a fact that Lee played golf with Kim during an overseas business trip.
However, on this day, the Seoul High Court ruled during the appellate trial that both the statement, 'I did not know Kim during my time as mayor of Seongnam,' and the statement, 'I did not play golf with Kim,' could not be punished as the publication of false facts.
On this day, the 6-2 Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Choi Eun-jung, Lee Ye-seul, Jeong Jae-o) stated regarding the statement, 'I did not know Kim during my time as mayor of Seongnam,' that 'the essential and overall meaning is that the defendant did not know Kim Moon-ki during his tenure as mayor, so it concerns perception, not an act,' adding, 'It cannot be regarded as having lied about any social interaction with Kim Moon-ki.' The court ruled that it cannot be punished as the publication of false facts, in agreement with the first trial's reasoning.
The court also addressed Lee's statement that 'the photo was manipulated, making it seem as if I played golf with Kim,' noting that 'the statement implies that he does not remember Kim, and no matter how broadly it is interpreted, there is no room to interpret it as 'I did not play golf together.'
In addition, the court stated regarding Lee's claim that 'the golf photo was manipulated' that '(the photo) was posted by a member of the People Power Party on social media on Dec. 23, 2021, and it includes Lee, Kim Moon-ki, Yoo Dong-kyu, and Kim Jin-wook.' The court concluded, 'This photo is not the original.' It further explained, 'This photo was presented by a member of the People Power Party as evidence or material that Lee played golf with former Minister Kim,' stating that 'the original depicted 10 people posing together and, thus, cannot be seen as evidence supporting that golf was played; it is a manipulated version since part of the original was removed.'