The ruling and opposition parties are watching the sentence of "Lee Jae-myung's 1st trial" amid tension...Future watershed for Jungkook.

[Anchor]
Tensions are also rising in the political circles of the ruling and opposition parties ahead of the first trial of the Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act today.

Although time is still left until the final ruling of the Supreme Court, the prevailing observation is that the outcome of the sentence will have a significant impact on the political situation in the future.

I'm connecting you with a reporter from the National Assembly. Reporter PARK JEONG HYUN!

[Reporter]
Yes, it's the National Assembly.

[Anchor]
Please tell us more about the political atmosphere ahead of Lee Jae-myung's first trial sentence!

[Reporter]
Yes, first of all, the Democratic Party is confident of Representative Lee's innocence.

Rather, the situation in which the court has been dragging the prosecution's excessive prosecution for more than two years makes no sense, a party official pointed out in a phone call with YTN.

Democratic leaders also said at the morning meeting that they expected a clear acquittal, saying that memories and thoughts are not subject to punishment under election law.

Some lawmakers, including the Democratic Party's Prosecutor's Office, and supporters of Lee, including the Democratic Innovation Conference, a pro-democracy activist group, will gather at the Seoul Central District Court in the afternoon to hold a rally to call for innocence.

The power of the people is also paying keen attention to the results of Lee's sentence.

In a morning meeting, floor leader Choo Kyung-ho urged the judiciary to set justice straight against Lee's cowardly lies.

Rep. Cho Jung-hoon also said in a radio interview that if judicial justice is alive, representative Lee will be fined more than 1 million won, losing his right to run for election in the first trial.

[Anchor] How will Jungkook change in the future depending on the outcome of the sentence
?

[Reporter]
If he is acquitted, he is expected to ease some of the biggest weakness for CEO Lee, the burden of trial risk, and gain momentum as a presidential candidate.

From the perspective of the Democratic Party, which has argued that the representative Lee's investigation is the prosecution's political oppression, the gathering of supporters can further strengthen the driving force of the rental struggle, including the independent counsel Kim.

In the case of guilt, the direction is expected to vary depending on the sentence, and the key is whether a fine of more than 1 million won will be issued.

If the fine is more than 1 million won, it will be deprived of the right to run for president, making it difficult for Lee to run for president if the Supreme Court is confirmed, and the Democratic Party will have to return 43.4 billion won, which is the cost of the presidential election, to the NEC.

In addition to Lee's political blow, the party is also facing a major crisis, and the party is widely expected to have no significant impact on any outcome as it is still the first trial.

A party leadership official also stressed on the phone that criticism and criticism will grow over the excessive ruling.

On the other hand, a fine of less than 1 million won is considered "political innocence" as it does not affect the presidential bid itself.

The ruling party says it should wait and see the results of other trials even if it is less than 1 million won, that is, even if there is no invalid election.

A member of the ruling party predicted that even if the fine falls below 1 million won, there will be many obstacles left, and the public will eventually be skeptical about Lee's presidential bid.

[Anchor]
Suspicions of intervention in nominations are also drawing attention.

The key official, Myung Tae-kyun, was arrested, but he seems to have entered a new phase with the revelation of Rep. Lee Joon-seok, the leader of the People's Power Party at the time?

[Reporter]
Yes, the suspicion of intervention in the nomination has mainly focused on whether Kim Gun-hee was involved in the nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun.

However, controversy is brewing yesterday when then-party leader Lee Joon-seok raised suspicions that the president was involved in other nominations when he was elected.

It means that President Yoon mentioned certain people in the nomination, such as the head of a local government, in the 2022 local elections,
Kim Tae-woo, former head of Gangseo-gu District Office, Kim Eun-hye, who ran for governor of Gyeonggi-do Province, and Kim Ahn Cheol Soo, who ran for Bundang-A in Gyeonggi-do Province, are known to be mentioned first.

Rep. Lee plans to make further statements in the afternoon,
Representative Lee
is controlling the level of his remarks, saying, "I don't know if there is a legal problem here."

The opposition party urged a quick and strict prosecution investigation at the morning meeting, saying the criminal package is being resolved, but the special prosecutor's offensive is also expected to intensify.

The ruling party maintains a cautious position, saying that Myung Tae-kyun has been arrested first and that the investigation should be watched as the related prosecution investigation is underway.

However, Rep. Lee Chul-kyu refuted the radio interview to the effect that the president cannot be seen as an intervention in the nomination as the president-elect.

He also stressed that there was no external pressure, saying that the party's leadership was unfounded at the time, and especially the head of Gangseo-gu District Office, did not want to release the candidate itself, but reversed the decision due to opposition within the party.

However, representative Lee is expected to have significant political repercussions in the future as he has also announced additional revelations in accordance with the president's office and the ruling party's response on the phone.

I'm Park Jung-hyun of YTN in the National Assembly.