Democratic Party seeks to halt Lee Jae-myung’s trials during campaign

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is demanding that all court proceedings involving its presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, be suspended during the official campaign period, which begins May 12, and postponed until after the June 3 presidential election.

The party’s request covers a range of cases, including a retrial over alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act that the Supreme Court has already sent back with a guilty finding. It also seeks to pause trials tied to high-profile scandals such as the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong development projects, the Seongnam FC sponsorship case, the Wirye development probe, allegations of perjury coaching, and claims that a company illegally sent funds to North Korea.

At a press conference at the National Assembly on Sunday, Yoon Ho-joong, the party’s chief campaign manager, accused the judiciary of interfering with the election. He said the court, led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, plans to summon Lee five times before election day. “This goes beyond election interference — it is judicial obstruction of the electoral process,” Yoon said. He formally demanded that all court dates involving candidates during the campaign period be pushed back until after the vote.

Lee is currently scheduled to appear in court multiple times during the campaign: May 13 and 27 for the Daejang-dong case; May 15 for the election law retrial; May 20 for the perjury case; and May 27 for both a corporate card misuse case and the North Korea remittance case. The Democratic Party wants all proceedings delayed.

The party also hinted that it may pursue impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Cho and the Seoul High Court judges handling Lee’s retrial if its demands are rejected.

Yoon warned that the party is prepared to act if trial delays are not granted. “We make clear our intent to block the High Court’s proceedings,” he said. “If anyone interferes, it will be an act of constitutional destruction and an obstruction of the people’s sovereignty, and the legislature will punish them on behalf of the people. They will come to understand that the gavel wielded by the people’s representatives is stronger than that of the judiciary.”

Separately, the Democratic Party of Korea plans to propose an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act during a session of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill would suspend criminal trials for any candidate elected president until the end of their term, meaning all cases against Lee would be frozen if he wins the June 3 presidential election.

The party dismissed speculation that it might replace Lee as its candidate. “There has been no discussion whatsoever about a new candidate,” said Kang Hoon-sik, head of the campaign’s general affairs office. “Neither candidate Lee nor the party is wavering in the slightest.”


Oh-Hyuk Kwon hyuk@donga.com