Rival parties lock horns after opposition leader's prison term sentence

Rival parties intensified their attacks on each other Monday as they weighed the significance of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's sentence to a suspended prison term.

Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) was found guilty last Friday of making false statements during the 2021-22 presidential campaign as a candidate with the intent of winning the election.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for two years, a ruling that if upheld will strip him of his parliamentary seat and bar him from running in the next presidential election in 2027.

During a DP Supreme Council meeting Monday, Lee accused the prosecution of disturbing order in the country by abusing its power, covering up crimes and unfairly exercising its authority.

"If the prosecution can't do a proper job, it's only natural that a special counsel should be appointed to defend the legal processes and legal order that are being damaged," he said.

Lee was apparently referring to his party's push to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, namely her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme and her alleged interference in party politics.

"The president's veto is expected, but this country is not in the sole ownership of the president," he said. "Because the overwhelming majority of the people wish for a special counsel, we will do our best to realize a special counsel in line with the wishes of the sovereign."

The ruling People Power Party (PPP), however, called for a swift conclusion of Lee's trials.

In addition to the conviction for making false statements during the presidential campaign, Lee is standing three trials on charges of a suborning a former mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favor, corruption in connection with development projects in Seongnam and involvement in an illegal cash transfer of US$8 million to North Korea.

The ruling on the perjury subornation case is due out next Monday.

"Chairman Lee will continue to face guilty rulings," PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said during a party Supreme Council meeting.

Citing stipulations in law that an appellate ruling and a final ruling should both be made within three months, Han said the trials should be "finalized quickly."

PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho, meanwhile, expressed alarm that the DP has taken to the streets of Seoul every weekend to join protesters in denouncing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and gone so far as to attack the judiciary with language such as "crazy ruling" and "judicial murder" in reference to last week's ruling.

"What Chairman Lee and the Democratic Party of Korea should do is stop its 'asphalt politics' of shielding crime, wait humbly for the judiciary's judgment and take responsibility for the ruling," Choo said during the meeting. (Yonhap)