S. Korea's Supreme Court dismisses acquittal ruling on Lee Jae-myung in election law violation case

South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal court's acquittal ruling on Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the majority liberal Democratic Party, in his election law violation case.

Cho Hee-dae, the top court's chief justice who referred the case to the full bench, delivered the ruling televised live, saying the former leader of the Democratic Party made false statements during the last presidential campaign.

The Supreme Court decided on the dismissal by 10-2, sending the case back to a high court to the effect of guilt.

On March 26, the Seoul High Court acquitted Lee of the election law violation, overturning the verdict of the Seoul Central District Court that sentenced Lee to one year in prison, suspended for two years, last November on charges of dissemination of false information during the 2022 presidential election.

Prosecutors had sought a two-year jail sentence for Lee in the first and the appeal trials.

Lee was absent in the courtroom as a defendant's attendance is not mandatory for the Supreme Court's ruling.

With the top court's decision, the high court will be required to deliberate the case again and refer it to the Supreme Court for the finalized decision.

By law, Lee would be restricted from running for office for five years if he received a fine of over 1 million won (700 US dollars) for election law violation finalized by the Supreme Court.

Lee, who lost the 2022 presidential election to the now ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol by the country's narrowest margin, has been widely seen as the most powerful contender for the upcoming snap presidential election on June 3.

A recent survey showed Lee came out on top with a support rate of 42 percent, taking a big lead over conservative presidential hopefuls.

Lee's support rate hovered above 30 percent since December last year when Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of December 3, which was revoked by the opposition-led National Assembly hours later.

Lee was indicted in 2022 over statements he made during a media interview in December 2021 as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, when he denied he had known a senior official at the urban development arm of the city of Seongnam where he was mayor from 2010 to 2018.

Lee said he was unable to remember the late official during the TV interview, but prosecutors argued that Lee lied to voters to distance himself from corruption allegations over a land development project of the urban development arm.

Lee was also accused of making false claims during a parliamentary audit in October 2021 when Lee, then Gyeonggi province governor, said he was threatened by the land ministry of then conservative government and changed the designation of land use for a separate land development project in 2015 when he was the Seongnam mayor.

Prosecutors said there was no threat posed by the land ministry, but Lee stressed that the land ministry pressured Seongnam city despite his admission of exaggerated expression.