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| Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung talks to reporters in front of his office in Suwon, Thursday morning. / Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung will be able to retain his position after the Supreme Court sent his case back to an appeals court, Thursday, which had previously found him guilty of violating the Election Law.
The ruling also cleared the way for Lee to pursue a presidential bid on the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) ticket in 2022.
In a 7-to-5 vote, the court ruled that he had not violated the Election Law.
"The law can't punish Lee Jae-myung for disseminating false information (at the debate) unless he actively declared the false claim was a fact. Some of Lee statements in the debate were simply made to deny claims made by his opponent and this cannot be seen as a deliberate act to disseminate false information…," Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su ― who wrote for the majority ― said during the session which was televised on TV and livestreamed on YouTube.
Usually, four judges hear the case at the top court, but in Thursday's session, 12 attended because a four-justice hearing had failed to arrive at a decision. Two judges abstained from voting.
Supporters filled the courtroom and also had a heavy presence outside the court, and they cheered when the ruling was announced.
The governor thanked the court for "delivering a fair and correct judgment."
"I am thankful to be able to continue to work," he said via Facebook following the ruling.
Lee was elected to lead Gyeonggi Province, with a constituency of 13 million people, in 2018. Prior to that, he served two terms as mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Political commentators consider him as one of the leading candidates for the 2022 presidential election.
He attracted many supporters with his straightforward speeches and policies that had an immediate impact on residents' lives.
Lee was the first elected officer to start a basic income program for young adults in Seongnam. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he also became the first to offer Gyeonggi Province residents relief funds, and filed a criminal complaint against a religious sect blamed for spreading the virus.
The governor was indicted last December for having his older brother forcibly committed to a psychiatric care facility in 2012. The prosecution also claimed he violated the Election Law by lying about the brother in a nationally televised debate with other election candidates in 2018.
A lower court found him not guilty on both charges, but the high court overturned these verdicts and fined him 3 million won. The relevant law stipulates an elected public official is stripped of their position and banned them from political office for five years if a court fines them over 1 million won or sentences them to more than a year in prison.
