Lawmakers attending the People Power Party’s policy general meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th listen to Floor Leader Song Eon-seok’s remarks regarding the resumption of President Lee Jae-myung’s trials. Yonhap News. 

The People Power Party held a general meeting of lawmakers at the National Assembly on the 29th, where they repeatedly urged the judiciary to resume the five criminal trials involving President Lee Jae-myung, including the remand trial for the Public Official Election Act and the Daejang-dong case.

Floor Leader Song Eon-seok stated, "With five trials against the incumbent president suspended, how can any citizen believe that 'the law is equal for all'?" adding, "To protect the honor and independence of the judiciary, the courts must take action themselves."

Floor Leader Song claimed, "The Democratic Party’s attempt to oust the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is a clear act of political retaliation regarding President Lee's conviction, and a move to permanently halt the President's trials," asserting that it is "an attempt to overturn President Lee’s conviction to a full acquittal."

He continued, "There is no need to cite Article 84 of the Constitution regarding the trial of the First Lady, and state affairs would not come to a standstill just because the First Lady is on trial," adding, "There is also analysis suggesting that one of the reasons the Democratic Party is pressuring the Supreme Court is to protect Kim Hye-kyung."

Article 84 of the Constitution stipulates that 'The President shall not be charged with a criminal offense during their tenure of office except for insurrection or treason.'

Previously, the Seoul High Court had postponed the date for President Lee’s Public Official Election Act remand trial, explaining it as a "measure in accordance with Article 84 of the Constitution."

Representative Na Kyung-won, who gave a keynote presentation at the general meeting, said, "A 2010 constitutional commentary issued by the Ministry of Government Legislation clearly states that 'criminal prosecution under Article 84 refers to indictment,'" and argued, "It is a clear violation of the Constitution that the President's trial has been halted when it should naturally be proceeding."

Representative Na asserted, "The prosecution must immediately file an objection (to the suspension of the trial), and the court must resume the hearings," adding that "resuming the trial is what upholds judicial independence."

Regarding the Democratic Party's push to summon Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to a hearing over alleged "interference in the presidential election," she stated, "The reason they are pressuring the Chief Justice is to completely resolve President Lee's judicial risks and to demand a conviction for 'insurrection' (against former President Yoon Suk Yeol)."

Representative Joo Jin-woo criticized the acquittal handed down to President Lee in the second trial of his Public Official Election Act violation case last March.

President Lee was indicted by the prosecution on charges of spreading false information after he claimed during a broadcast appearance as a presidential candidate in December 2021 that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former division head at Seongnam Development Corporation who had worked on the Daejang-dong project.

Representative Joo stated, "The reason a suspended prison sentence was given in the first trial was the recognition of the massive impact the statement had on the (20th) presidential election," and added, "The second trial's ruling, which dismissed the false information as merely an expression of opinion, was a forced logic created to reach an acquittal."

Yonhap News