Cho Kuk: "High Likelihood of Guilty Verdict in President Lee's Second Trial After Term Ends"

Cho Kuk: "Political and Legal Defeat Likely if Charges Against President Lee Are Forcibly Dismissed"

"High Possibility of Guilty Verdict in False Information Case"

Cho Kuk, the head of the Institute for Innovation Policy at the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, pointed out on September 1 regarding the "Special Prosecutor Act on Manipulated Prosecution by the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration," which includes the dismissal of charges against President Lee Jae-myung, stating, "To dismiss charges on the grounds of 'manipulated prosecution,' it must first be confirmed that such manipulation occurred."

On August 17, 2023, Lee Jae-myung, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is appearing at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

On the same day via Facebook, Cho warned, "If the dismissal of charges against President Lee Jae-myung is pushed forward while ignoring this requirement, there will inevitably be political and legal setbacks."

"To dismiss charges for manipulated prosecution, evidence must be obtained through inspection and investigation"

He commented on the National Assembly's inquiry into manipulated prosecutions, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "It achieved many results. However, that alone is not sufficient." He emphasized, "Evidence of manipulation must be secured through inspections by the Ministry of Justice or the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, or through investigations by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) targeting the problematic prosecutors."

He also mentioned the fact-finding investigation by the Prosecutorial Human Rights and Future Committee (Prosecution Future Committee) on cases such as the Daejang-dong and North Korea remittance incidents, saying, "The results of this investigation must also be checked. Once Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won takes office, visible results should be swiftly produced in this regard."

On August 17, 2023, Lee Jae-myung, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is appearing at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Cho further addressed President Lee's violation of the Public Official Election Act, pointing out, "Under the law, a prosecution can be withdrawn until the verdict is delivered in the first trial." He cautioned, "If a clause is included in the 'Special Prosecutor Act on Manipulated Prosecution' to allow for withdrawal of charges in cases where trials are suspended during the second instance of President Lee's trial, it will immediately create issues."

"The Democratic Party, in effect, has made it difficult to dismiss charges against President Lee"

He continued, "The Democratic Party welcomed Yoon Suk-yeol’s conviction for disseminating false information under the Public Official Election Act," and claimed, "Unless the Supreme Court's legal interpretation is overturned, there is a very high likelihood that a guilty verdict will be delivered in President Lee's second trial, which will resume after his term ends."

In addition, Cho stated, "The abuse of power by Yoon Suk-yeol’s prosecution was not limited to President Lee; numerous officials from the Moon Jae-in administration were also subjected to targeted investigations and prosecutions, only to be acquitted in court. However, the Democratic Party did not demand withdrawal of charges while these cases were still in the first instance," he added.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.