Seoul: The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will allow its sentencing trial of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's election law violation case, slated for later this week, to be televised live. The top court plans to deliver its ruling on the case at 3 p.m. Thursday. With the court's permission, anyone in the country can watch the sentencing live on TV or the Supreme Court's YouTube channel. Lee will not appear in court, as a defendant's attendance is not mandatory at the top court.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the ruling comes after prosecutors appealed a high court ruling last month that acquitted Lee of lying as a presidential candidate during the 2022 election and overturned a lower court's sentence of a suspended prison term. The Supreme Court received the politically sensitive case just over a month ago, and Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae referred it to the full bench. For the ruling, the court will likely either confirm and finalize the high court's ruling or send it back to the lower court if it finds fault.