On the 1st, the Supreme Court overturned the second trial ruling that declared Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate, not guilty in the public election law violation case and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court. The Supreme Court stated that Lee's remarks regarding preferential treatment related to Baekhyeon-dong, which the second trial judged as not guilty, constituted "the publication of false facts."
Concerns have been raised that Lee's decision to immediately upgrade the land use of the site for the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong from "green space" to "quasi-residential area" by four levels in 2015, while he was the mayor of Seongnam, was to give preferential treatment to Kim In-seop, who was Lee's campaign chief in the past.
During the National Assembly's audit in October 2021, Lee said in response to these allegations, "I was compelled to change the land use after receiving a request from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to change the use." He also noted, "Officials from the Ministry of Land threatened that they would raise a problem of negligence of duty if the land use change was not granted."
In response, the second trial said Lee's remarks fell under the expression of opinion and could not be punished.
However, the Supreme Court stated, "Remarks related to Baekhyeon-dong are a publication of facts, not simply exaggerated expressions or abstract opinions." It further noted, "Seongnam City promoted the increase of land use classification based on its own judgment, and there was no pressure from the Ministry of Land on Seongnam City in that process."