“Publicizing false facts in the name of explanation”… Why did the court sentence Lee Jae-myung to prison?

The reason the court handed down a relatively severe sentence of imprisonment to Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 15th was because it believed that “the responsibility for influencing voters’ choices by informing false information during the election process is heavy.” Representative Lee’s claims that the remarks in question were not false or intentional were not accepted at all. Based on the context at the time of the statement and the impression it gave to voters, it is judged that the spread of false information is correct.

On this day, the 34th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Seong-jin) sentenced Representative Lee to one year in prison and two years of probation, saying, “The crimes in this case were all committed in the name of clarifying the suspicions in a situation where the suspicions raised against the defendant were of public interest.” “It was achieved through the use of broadcasting as a medium, and its impact and dissemination power was great,” he pointed out. In addition, the reason for sentencing was stated as follows: “Freedom of expression during the election process must be taken into consideration, but the risk that public opinion may be distorted by ordinary voters obtaining incorrect information due to the publication of false information must also be taken into consideration.”

◆“You must have remembered Lee Jae-myung and Kim Mun-ki”

The court ruled that one branch of this case, the ‘golf remark’ related to Mr. Kim Moon-ki, constituted the publication of false facts. Representative Lee appeared on Channel A in December 2021, three months before the presidential election, and said, “I published a photo as if I was playing golf (during an overseas business trip with Mr. Kim), but when I checked, it was all of our group and some of the group photos. He took it off and showed it like this. “It was fabricated,” he said. Representative Lee’s side refuted that he was only saying at trial that the photo was fabricated, and that even if it was not fabricated, it meant that he was not playing golf at the time the photo was taken.

However, the court pointed out that this statement was made in a situation where the relationship between Representative Lee and Mr. Kim was highlighted in connection with the Daejeon-dong suspicion, and said, “From the perspective of an ordinary voter, it is easy to accept this to mean that the defendant did not play overseas golf with Kim Mun-gi.” I judged. In addition, the only people who played golf together during the business trip were Mr. Kim and Yoo Dong-gyu (Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director), which seems to be a memorable act. Mr. Kim was a key worker in the Daejangdong project and helped in the trial of CEO Lee, who was the governor of Gyeonggi Province. Taking these factors into consideration, it was decided that the golf statement could be viewed as false and that intentionality was acknowledged.

Representative Lee appeared on another broadcast and was partially found not guilty, believing that the part where he said, “I did not know Kim Moon-ki when he was mayor of Seongnam” did not constitute public disclosure of false information. As the prosecution claimed, it cannot be concluded that there was no association with Mr. Kim, so it is difficult to say that it was a public announcement of false information. However, since the comments related to Mr. Kim constitute a comprehensive crime (multiple acts collectively constitute one crime), he was not separately declared not guilty as long as he was found guilty of the golf remarks.

◆ Baekhyeon-dong site change “Jaemyung Lee reviewed on his own”

The court also found him guilty of the remaining major part of this case, the ‘Baekhyun-dong remarks’. This remark was made at the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province’s government affairs in October 2021. Representative Lee, who was the governor of Gyeonggi Province at the time, said regarding the suspicion of preferential treatment in changing the use of the site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam-si, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested a change of use, so I had no choice but to respond,” and “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened to make an issue of dereliction of duty.” It was argued that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should have complied with a request for cooperation based on Article 43, Paragraph 6 of the Innovation City Act (if the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport makes a request, the local government must reflect this).

Regarding this, the court considered Representative Lee’s statement to be false, saying, “The change in the use area of ​​the Baekhyeon-dong site was not inevitable at the request of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, but was made after (the defendant) reviewed it on his own.” He said that it cannot be said that Representative Lee or Seongnam City officials were threatened by officials of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that they would raise the issue of dereliction of duty if they did not change the use zone. Also, considering that suspicions continued to be raised about the Baekhyeon-dong site around October 2021 when this statement was made, the court ruled that Representative Lee’s intention to make false statements was acknowledged.

◆Jaemyung Lee “It’s a conclusion that is difficult to accept”

In the legal world, there is an assessment that Lee’s false statement was related to matters important to voter judgment and that he was sentenced to a rather heavy sentence because he had a past history of being fined (500,000 won) for violating the Public Official Election Act.

The Supreme Court’s sentencing guidelines recommend that if a person is found guilty of publishing false information for the purpose of winning a election, he or she will be sentenced to not more than 10 months in prison or a fine of 2 to 8 million won. However, if there are aggravating factors, such as △ when the false facts are related to very important judgments of constituents regarding the evaluation of candidates △ when the election day is imminent △ when the number of opponents is significant or the spread is very high, etc., 8 months to 2 years in prison or a fine of 5 million won He was sentenced to ∼10 million won.

After the sentencing that day, Representative Lee announced his intention to appeal, saying, “This is a conclusion that is difficult to accept, starting with the basic admission of facts.” He said, “There are still two more courts of reality left, and the court of public sentiment and history is eternal,” and added, “If you make your judgment based on common sense and justice, you will be able to reach a sufficient conclusion.”

Reporter Lee Jong-min jngmn@segye.com

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