Seoul: South Korea's main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has filed an appeal against a suspended sentence by a local court over violations of the election law during the previous presidential campaign, legal sources said Thursday. On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to a one-year prison term suspended for two years as it found him guilty of making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act.According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee was accused of lying during a media interview in December 2021, stating that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former executive of Seongnam Development Corp., which was involved in a corruption-ridden development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when Lee was the city's mayor. Lee also suggested he did not play golf with Kim while on a business trip to Australia. Additionally, Lee faced accusations of lying during a parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi provincial government in October 2021, claiming he was under pressure from the la nd ministry to rezone the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Seongnam. This site was later developed into apartment complexes by a private developer, raising allegations that Lee rezoned the land to provide preferential treatment to the company.The court declared all the statements as lies, although it noted that the claim about not knowing Kim could not legalistically be considered a violation of the election law. Lee has appealed to the Seoul Central District Court, while prosecutors who initially sought a two-year prison sentence are also expected to file an appeal before the Nov. 22 deadline.Any final prison term or a fine of 1 million won (US$710) or more would result in Lee losing his parliamentary seat and his eligibility to run in any elections, including the 2027 presidential election, for the next five years.
- September 4, 2026
