[News Now] Lee Jae-myung, the day of destiny...What are the issues and scenarios of the first trial of the election law?

■ Host: Kim Sun-young Anchor
■ Starring: Attorney Kim Kwang-sam

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN NewsNOW] when quoting.

[Anchor]
We have about half a time left. The first trial of Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung's case of the Public Official Election Act will be announced shortly. Let's look at the issues. Attorney Kim Kwang-sam is here. Welcome. Should I say it's the number of first trial cases? I think I can abbreviate it to about three things right now, so please organize it.

[Kim Kwang-sam]
The number of three cases can vary depending on whether today's sentence itself is more than 1 million won or less. Therefore, on the premise of guilt, if it is less than 1 million won, if it is more than 1 million won, and if it is innocent. I can say about three cases. The scenario that Lee Jae-myung wants the most will be innocent. Then, although the appeals court and the Supreme Court ruling remain legally, the violence against the prosecution and political prosecution that he has claimed so far will gain momentum.

However, even if there is no innocence and less than 1 million won, doesn't this mean that this case itself is not that serious? If it comes to less than 1 million won, you can run for president and there are no legal problems.

And you keep your seat. The worst-case scenario is when you get more than 1 million won. Then, if more than 1 million won comes out, not only will you lose your parliamentary seat, but of course, you will have to be confirmed by the Supreme Court. And it depends on whether it's more than 5 million won or less.Ma may be limited to five or ten years of eligibility. So, whether it is more than 1 million won or less is a very important sentence as well as innocence. You can say this.

[Anchor]
It can be seen as a sentence that separates political fate, but it took more than two years for the first trial to be sentenced today. It took quite a long time, if it took more than two years.

[Kim Kwang Sam]
Even in the original regulations, the trial is called 633. There is a rule that the trial for the election cannot exceed 6 months in the first trial, then 3 months in the appeals court, and more than 3 months in the Supreme Court. This regulation has rarely been followed. That's why two years and two months took a lot of time. So, this case itself is a case of a big-name politician named Lee Jae-myung, with social attention focused.

In a way, CEO Lee Jae-myung may not want the case to end soon. Because if you can't predict how the results will come out, you'll probably want to make a claim that you can claim and put forward witnesses that you can choose because there are various things related to the Democratic Party, such as your own representative position or your congressional position.

So, the defendant Lee Jae-myung also intended to delay time without finishing it quickly, and the prosecution should be guilty. Therefore, it took quite a long time because all the prosecution's witnesses had to be presented to hear the testimony.

[Anchor]
Then can the appeal trial take this long?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
The appeal won't take that long. First, most of the witnesses came out in the first trial. In the case of a case of innocence, whether you are a prosecutor or a defendant in the first trial, you do your best. We give out all possible evidence.

So, it can be said that the evidence hearing is almost over, and in the appeal trial, it does not take that long because the trial is based on only what was not done in the first trial and what was not enough. Moreover, the Supreme Court said that not long ago. I believe that the future trial is likely to go faster than the previous trial because I vowed to comply with the regulations on the duration of the trial.

[Anchor]
Then, considering the grand law, there is a high possibility that it will go in the order of coming out within next year.

[Kim Kwang Sam]
It will be difficult until next year. However, the possibility of coming out before the next presidential election has increased significantly.

[Anchor]
There are two charges that are a key issue in the first trial today. It means that he made false statements in the presidential election. There are two. Kim didn't know, and there was a threat from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. In this part, first of all, Kim Moon-ki did not know, there has been a long debate over this remark, but can it be judged judicially what corresponds to memory? This part has been a point of contention. How should I look at this?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
First of all, isn't it a false fact to lie that you don't know what you know? That's what I announced. This case itself does not end with knowing or not knowing Kim Moon-ki, but Kim Moon-ki was a key person related to Daejang-dong. But he died.

So, if Kim Moon-ki was mentioned at the time, did Lee Jae-myung know or did not know whether Lee Jae-myung had anything to do with the suspicion of Daejang-dong. It was an issue that could instill such awareness in the people. That's why CEO Lee Jae-myung insists on that. We went to Australia and New Zealand together, played golf together, and took pictures together, but the law of knowing and not knowing itself is a matter of subjective perception.

That's why I may not know no matter how often I see them. Moreover, he is arguing that saying that he didn't know because he didn't know because he was in a lower-level position cannot be punished even in the subjective domain. However, the prosecution's position is not that, but the area of knowing Kim Moon-ki is not a subjective area, but a question of whether or not to deny suspicions related to Daejang-dong, and the prosecution argues that it is not simply about whether there was an exchange or not, regardless of knowing the relationship with Kim Moon-ki.

[Anchor]
The prosecution claims that it was a lie and that this is not just a matter of memory.

[Kim Kwang Sam]
They think it's a problem related to exchange activities and a problem related to the suspicion of Daejang-dong.

[Anchor]
These remarks are from media interviews, but are we going to consider whether the remarks were intentional or spontaneous?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
However, there have been cases where representative Lee Jae-myung was found not guilty before, whether he knows Kim Moon-ki or not. The case happened accidentally during a broadcast discussion. He is acquitted because he did so in that regard related to his brother's hospitalization. This part is different. It's because it was done in a broadcast interview.

If there was an interview, I would have given you the script. The prosecution is arguing that this is not just accidental because they said it not only once but also three or four times in other places on the day of the indictment. One of the important things is that the legal requirements are to publish false information for the purpose of being elected.

Therefore, representative Lee Jae-myung argues that he did not announce false information for the purpose of election. On the other hand, the prosecution's position now is that this is related to the election of the presidential election because it affects the presidential election tremendously without knowing Kim Moon-ki, which is the prosecution's argument.

[Anchor]
And the second key content is the threat from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This statement that there was a threat from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regarding the suspicion of preferential treatment for Baekhyun-dong's use is problematic. In Lee Jae-myung's side, isn't this threat a little subjective? That's what I'm claiming. How do you accept this in court?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
About 20 former and current government officials testified at the time of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. I've never been threatened by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and I've made all these consistent statements. In addition, there is a document sent by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Seongnam City, which is the authority of the head of the local government to change the use. So take care of it on your own, aren't you saying there are documents like that? But CEO Lee Jae-myung's position is like that. Even if there is no phrase of intimidation, asking the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to keep changing can feel pressure. That's why I was angry and said it was a threat. So, as I said earlier, this was also a threat in subjective perception, so there is such a problem.

[Anchor]
I felt it was a threat, you can claim it like this.

[Kim Kwang Sam]
That's right. Another issue is about intentionality. Did you lie about threatening to win the presidential election? This can be an issue. However, for representative Lee Jae-myung, that was the parliamentary inspection of the governor of Gyeonggi-do. So, what the head of the local government says at the parliamentary inspection is for the purpose of winning the election. He's making this argument again.

That's why I'm claiming that it wasn't intentional. At that time, there was a lot of talk about not going to the parliamentary inspection of the Democratic Party and being dangerous. There was a comment from a member of the Democratic Party that if you go out and say the wrong thing, it would be a big problem. It seems that this and this were probably presented as evidence by the prosecution. So, was such a request for cooperation from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the extent that Lee Jae-myung felt threatened? I think that will be an issue.

[Anchor]
What do you think will be a bigger problem if the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's remarks and Kim Moon-ki's remarks add some weight?

[Kwangsam]
In my opinion, you can see which of the former or the latter is important or not important, but there must be a standard of knowing that Kim Moon-ki may not know. There's no way you don't know when you look at the photos and other situations. However, it is not a matter of whether Kim Moon-ki knows the cause of death or not, but it is related to Daejang-dong.

However, Daejang-dong was a huge issue in the presidential election at that time, so it could have an impact. And likewise, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is related to the change of use of whether there was a threat or not. Since it is about arbitrary corruption, ordinary people think that it is much more important to be related to the threat of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, but in my view, it is not such a public announcement that it is so superior or inferior. It's almost the same. It looks like this.

[Anchor]
If more than 1 million won comes out today, the Democratic Party also has to return more than 40 billion won in election expenses. I think this problem will also be a big problem if it comes out more than 1 million won, so how will I return it?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
43.4 billion won was eventually preserved in cash. Then you have no choice but to sell us or collect party expenses from party members, or you have no choice but to pay this on various levels. In some cases, seizure and preservation measures can be entered. So it's not just the fate of Chairman Lee Jae-myung, but there are quite a few things related to the wealth of the Democratic Party.

[Anchor]
We're going to pay after the Supreme Court is confirmed, right?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
In principle, the Supreme Court is confirmed and announced, but in some cases, the name of the party, the party, the change of the party, etc. may occur, so from the perspective of the people's power, this should be seized.

[Anchor]
Isn't there originally a provision for seizure?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
Seizure is a civil matter. Of course, it is a matter that can be conserved if it is likely to be released. But since it's a political party, I don't know what the court will decide differently from the usual cause of death.

[Anchor]
Soon after, the first trial of the Lee Jae-myung's perjury teacher case will be announced on the 25th. CEO Lee Jae-myung posted a lot of articles on social media claiming his innocence regarding perjury teachers before the first trial was sentenced. There was also speculation that the mental burden was greater for the first trial of the perjury teacher case than today's sentence.

[Kim Kwang Sam]
But in principle, today's trial is much bigger. Because if you get more than 1 million won, you will be deprived of the right to run for 10 or 5 years. In addition, since the Democratic Party of Korea is in a situation where it has to offer 43.4 billion won, I think that Chairman Lee Jae-myung is very optimistic about today's trial itself.

So if you post more on your perjury teacher on social media, you can see that you are concentrating. That's what you might think. Regarding perjury teachers, when a warrant was requested by the Seoul Central District Court, Chief Judge Yoo Chang-hoon said that it would be an explanation.

If you do something wrong, there is a high possibility that the perjury teacher will be admitted. Then, from his point of view and from the point of view of the Democratic Party of Korea, if he does not prevent this, there is a high probability of conviction. Because he was conscious of that, he is posting SNS about such a perjury teacher, and if the perjury teacher itself is recognized, it is not a matter that will just end up as a fine.

If it ends with a fine, it has nothing to do with the right to run for election or maintain the parliamentary seat, but if it receives a sentence of more than probation, it cannot maintain Lee Jae-myung's parliamentary seat when it is confirmed by the Supreme Court. There are quite a few problems. Nevertheless, since it is said that the perjury teacher will be explained at the time of the warrant before, I think the court is very worried that he will be convicted accordingly.

[Anchor]
Lastly, even if many people come out large in the first trial, there is a possibility that they will be changed in the appeal trial. That's how some people see it. How likely is there to be a change in the appeal trial after today's sentence?

[Kim Kwang Sam]
That's unpredictable. Because there are cases in which the sentence is reduced at any trial or appeal trial, and in some cases, acquittal. However, since this case is a very intensely contested case, it can vary depending on how the judge judges legally and how heavy the first trial sentence is.

Moreover, it is difficult to predict how it will be changed later when the appeals court judges it very carefully because it is not a general cause of death, but because he is the representative of the main opposition party.

[Anchor]
Now, in about an hour and 20 minutes, the results of Lee Jae-myung's first trial will come out. As soon as the sentence comes out, I'll give you a breaking news. This has been lawyer Kim Kwang-sam. Thank you.