The court indefinitely postponed the first trial regarding the suspicions of President Lee Jae-myung's 'SSANGBANGWOOL remittance to North Korea.' As a result, all five criminal trials related to President Lee's violation of the Public Official Election Act, the Daejang-dong case, the misuse of the Gyeonggi Province corporate credit card, and the perjury solicitation case have been suspended.
On the 22nd, the Suwon District Court's Criminal Division 11, presided over by Director General Song Byeong-hoon, noted during the preparatory hearing for the trial regarding the violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery) involving President Lee, former Gyeonggi Province Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, and former SSANGBANGWOOL Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, that 'the defendant (President Lee) is currently serving as president and holds a position representing the state as the head of state,' and stated, 'To ensure his commitment to the duties guaranteed by the Constitution and the continuity of government operations, the date will be estimated (to be designated later).'
However, regarding co-defendants former Vice Governor Lee and former Chairman Kim, the court stated that it would hold the main trial on September 9. The court added, 'If the trial takes place five years later (after the president's term ends), related statements may become unclear,' and noted, 'We will proceed initially to discover the substantive truth.'
Previously, President Lee's legal team submitted an opinion paper for date estimation to the court on the 4th. The opinion paper reportedly contained details related to the progress of trial procedures, including the estimation of President Lee's date.
The SSANGBANGWOOL illegal remittance case to North Korea involves President Lee, during his tenure as Gyeonggi Province Governor in 2019, conspiring with former Vice Governor Lee to have former Chairman Kim pay a total of $8 million to North Korea, including $5 million for Gyeonggi Province's support for a North Korean smart farm project and $3 million for President Lee's travel expenses to North Korea. In this regard, the prosecution filed charges against President Lee in June of last year for violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act without detention. Former Vice Governor Lee, who was indicted as an accomplice of President Lee, recently received a confirmed sentence of 7 years and 8 months in a separately indicted trial regarding remittances to North Korea.
Meanwhile, on this day, the court's decision has suspended all five criminal trials of President Lee. In addition to this, President Lee was undergoing trials for ▲appeal on perjury solicitation charges ▲retrial on the Public Official Election Act violation charges ▲first trial on the Daejang-dong breach of duty and Seongnam FC bribery allegations ▲first trial on the Gyeonggi Province corporate credit card misuse allegations.
The perjury solicitation case has not had a date set since a 'to be designated later' decision was made before the presidential election. The other cases have been postponed since President Lee was elected.
The court referred to 'Article 84 of the Constitution' while postponing President Lee's retrial regarding the Public Official Election Act violation and the Daejang-dong trial. Article 84 of the Constitution stipulates that 'the president shall not be subject to criminal prosecution while in office,' which establishes the privilege of non-prosecution. However, the scope of prosecution remains unclear, causing controversy. President Lee once stated during the presidential election period, 'Ongoing trials will also be suspended during the presidential term.' In contrast, there were strong counterarguments within the legal community, such as 'Ongoing trials will continue even after the president is elected.'