Acquittal clears hurdle in South Korea opposition leader Lee Jae myung s presidential bid

SEOUL - South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is one very relieved man.

Mr Lee, the front runner to replace suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol if the latter’s impeachment is upheld, had risked having his ambitions cut short after a district court found him guilty of violating election laws in November 2024, handing him a one-year suspended jail sentence.

Under South Korean law, he stood to lose his legislative seat and be barred from running in elections for five years if he was sentenced to jail, or received a penalty fine that exceeds one million won (S$910).

However, on March 26, Mr Lee’s earlier guilty verdict was overturned by the Seoul High Court, which ruled that “it was difficult to recognise Mr Lee’s remarks as false” and that “the intent of a politician’s remarks should be interpreted broadly”.

Mr Lee, 62, had been accused of making a false statement during a parliamentary audit in October 2021 about land rezoning in Seongnam city. He was mayor of the city located south-east of Seoul from 2010 to 2018.

He was also accused of denying, in a media interview, personal ties to a central figure in a property redevelopment scandal when he was Seongnam mayor.

Speaking to reporters after his acquittal, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party (DP),which controls South Korea’s National Assembly, thanked the court for a “proper ruling based on truth and justice”, as supporters cheered.

The acquittal not only clears a major hurdle in the path of Mr Lee’s presidential ambitions, but may also boost his chances, said Yonsei University’s Dr Bong Young-shik.

Mr Lee, a lawyer by training, was the DP’s presidential candidate in 2022 but lost to Mr Yoon by a razor-thin margin of 0.73 percentage point.

The country’s Constitutional Court is due to announce in