By Lee Jon Young | Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung has been sentenced to one year in prison and two years of probation and disqualified from holding office in the first trial for violating the Public Offices Election Act. 

The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 34 (Deputy Chief Judge Han Sung-jin) sentenced Lee to one year in prison and two years of probation on Dec. 15. 

If the ruling is confirmed by the Supreme Court, Lee will lose his seat in the National Assembly and will be barred from voting for five years, making it impossible for him to run for President.

The court said the offense was serious because Lee's comments were related to a suspicion that was of public concern and “may distort public opinion by publicizing false facts to voters.” 

Lee was accused of falsely stating, “I did not know Kim when I was mayor,” in reference to Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Development 1 Chief Kim Moon-ki, when he was a candidate in the 2021 presidential election, and of saying that he was “pressured by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport” during a Gyeonggi-do state audit over the alleged preferential rezoning of the site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyun-dong, Gyeonggi Province.

The prosecution sought two years in prison, claiming that Lee intentionally published falsehoods to distance himself from the Daejang-dong scandal, but Lee denied any wrongdoing.