We criticize the court that created a legal theory based on a ridiculous story that does not conform to common sense and forcibly declared him not guilty

Yesterday, the appeals court completely overturned the first trial verdict and declared him not guilty regarding Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on charges of publishing false facts under the Public Official Election Act. Regarding Lee Jae-myung's statement that "Lee Jae-myung manipulated the photo to make it look like he played golf with Kim Moon-ki" and Baekhyun-dong's statement that "the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which requested the change of the land use zone, threatened to make it an issue of dereliction of duty, so I had no choice but to comply," the court ruled that the photo was manipulated because it was a cropped portion, and that it cannot be considered a lie about not playing golf. It can also be acknowledged that Baekhyun-dong's statement was also under pressure from various sides by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, so it is not false, but rather an expression of opinion, and it does not correspond to a statement about an "act" under the Public Official Election Act, and declared him not guilty.

However, it is surprising that they concluded that it was fabrication simply by cutting out part of the photo that had nothing to do with the facts they were trying to prove. It is also extremely common sense to think that Lee Jae-myung's purpose in saying that the photo was manipulated was to lie that he had never played golf with Kim Moon-ki overseas and that he did not know Kim Moon-ki, ultimately trying to make the listeners believe that he had nothing to do with the Daejang-dong indictment case. Therefore, the appeals court hastily determined that the photo was manipulated, contrary to the dictionary meaning, and judged that Lee Jae-myung's remarks only referred to photo manipulation and had nothing to do with playing golf with him. This is nothing more than a sophistry that is forcibly made up, and is not persuasive at all.

Moreover, nowhere in the city of Seongnam’s official documents was there any indication of pressure from the Ministry of Land. Around twenty public officials from both Seongnam and the Ministry consistently testified that there was no coercion. Despite this, the appellate court recognized the existence of pressure from the Ministry, which raises suspicion that it may have fabricated facts in order to justify an acquittal. How can the specific claim that “the Ministry of Land, which requested the zoning change, threatened to accuse us of dereliction of duty” suddenly be deemed a mere opinion? Did the appellate court issue its ruling in a language other than Korean? There is a wealth of Supreme Court precedent establishing that statements which can be proven or disproven through evidence are to be considered factual, not opinions. Has the appellate court not read these cases? If the mayor of Seongnam, who had the authority to approve zoning changes, lied that he made the decision under duress due to personal motives, how can such a statement not be about an “act” under the election law?

The crime of false fact announcement under the Public Official Election Act exemplifies false facts that are the subject of announcement as the candidate, spouse, direct ascendants and descendants, siblings, birthplace, family relationship, status, occupation, career, etc., property, actions, affiliated organizations, support for specific individuals and specific organizations, etc. However, as stipulated as 'support, etc.', not only the exemplified matters but also all broad matters that can affect the fair judgment of voters are included in the subject of announcement, so the appellate court's argument that the Public Official Election Act only punishes lies about the suspect's actions cannot be seen as anything other than the hastily created absurd legal theory to declare Lee Jae-myung not guilty.

Lee Jae-myung lied about having his older brother forcibly admitted to a mental hospital, but the Supreme Court ruled that it was okay to lie during a TV debate, the decision to reject the warrant saying that the charge of false testimony was proven but there was no concern about destroying evidence, and the absurd ruling by a lower court that the person who gave false testimony for Lee Jae-myung was guilty but Lee Jae-myung who ordered him to give false testimony was innocent, Now, with this even more bizzarre appellate court decision, if the Supreme Court does not promptly correct these custom-tailored rulings for Lee Jae-myung, this country will become a filthy paradise of lies, and the law and the judiciary will also become mere objects of ridicule. 

2025. 3. 27. 

Lawyers for human rights and unification of Korea (Hanbyun) 

Chairman Lee Jae-won