Will Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act be broadcast live?last-minute consideration of the court

[Anchor]
With the first trial of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in violation of the Public Official Election Act just three days away, attention is being paid to whether the trial will be broadcast live.

The court seems to be continuing its agony until the last minute.

Let's talk in detail with reporter Kim Da-hyun of the legal team of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Reporter Kim, welcome!

Representative Lee's first trial sentence is now three days away, and the passport is raising the pressure for live broadcasting, right?

[Reporter]
Yes, Representative Jin Jong-oh of the People's Power has been holding a one-man protest in front of the court since yesterday, demanding that the representative's sentence be broadcast live.

The trial should be made public so that the public can watch and judge all the charges Lee receives.

Let's hear what kind of position you're in.

[Jin Jong-oh / People's Power: Let me repeat my personal opinion that all people strongly demand the live broadcast of Representative Lee Jae-myung's trial so that there is no more threat to the judiciary]

Earlier, Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People's Power Party, also stressed at the Supreme Council that if the Democratic Party thinks Lee is innocent, it should hold a live demonstration of force.

On the other hand, opposition parties oppose the live trial, arguing that it is a violation of human rights and a disgrace to individuals.

[Anchor]
In fact, live broadcasting of the trial is not common.

Under what circumstances is it allowed?

[Reporter]
Under the court's bylaws revised in 2017, the presiding judge can permit the application for filming the date of sentencing with the consent of the defendant.

However, even if the defendant does not agree, it can be permitted if it is judged to be for the public interest.

The first live broadcast of the first trial was former President Park Geun Hye's ruling on state affairs in 2018.Former President Park

filed for an injunction against the decision to broadcast live, but it was not accepted.

After that, former President Park did not appear in court on the day of the sentence after issuing a statement of reasons for her absence.

Subsequently, former President Lee Myung Bak's first trial was broadcast live, but he also did not appear in court.

To broadcast live, we need time to install broadcasting equipment.

As both cases were decided three days before the sentencing, some predict that the live broadcast of Lee's trial will be decided as early as today.

[Anchor]
On the contrary, there were cases where live broadcasting was not allowed even though it was a matter of great interest, right?

[Reporter]
Yes, at the time of the first trial of then-Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's manipulation of state affairs in 2017, some predicted live broadcasting.

The court did not allow the defendants to suffer more damage than the public interest.

In the following year, even when Choi Seo-won was sentenced to the first trial of state affairs manipulation, the court did not broadcast it live on the grounds that the defendant did not agree.

Given these cases, some predict that the court may not allow live broadcasting if representative Lee does not agree again this time.

[Anchor]
If so, the representative doctor, who is the person concerned, must be important.

Has the representative expressed a specific position?

[Reporter]
Representative Lee, who also attended the court today over the alleged irregularities in the development of Daejang-dong, declined to comment on related questions.

However, the representative told YTN that they had not yet been contacted by the court to submit a comment on the live broadcast and had not given any comment accordingly.

[Anchor]
What part of the court is considering the most?

[Reporter]
The issue is expected to be whether it is in the public interest to broadcast the first trial of Lee's representative trial live.

Lee is currently the leader of the main opposition party and is considered a leading presidential candidate at the same time.

In this situation, there was a great concern about the so-called "judicial risk" as it is currently carrying out four trials between the Seoul Central District Court and the Suwon District Court.

It is true that public interest is high because if a fine of more than 1 million won is confirmed in this case, it will inevitably affect the future presidential bid.

Considering these points, the court is expected to scrutinize whether it is in the "public interest" to disclose the trial.

[Anchor]
How is the legal profession forecasting it?

[Reporter]
There are many opinions in the legal profession that it will be difficult to broadcast the trial live.

It is difficult to put the trials of former presidents and the trials of the opposition leader on the same line.

In addition, since the trial will involve about 30 reporters, the result of the sentence will be reported in real time, and there are voices that allowing filming is a disgrace.

As it is a political case, there is also an opinion that the court may feel burdened by filming.

On the contrary, if the broadcast is decided by breaking this outlook, Lee will be the third politician to be broadcasted after former Presidents Park Geun Hye and Lee Myung Bak.

In the midst of this, the court of representative Lee's "Ssangbangwool Remittance to North Korea" did not accept the request for a live broadcast of the trial requested by civic groups today.The case of

is different from the case of the Public Official Election Act because the full-fledged trial has not yet begun.

The court also explained that live broadcasting does not mean much because it is a preparatory procedure now, and there is no basis for live broadcasting because the trial date will begin soon.

The case of the Public Official Election Act is also expected to be decided soon as the first trial is only three days away.

[Anchor]
Yes, reporter Kim, thank you very much.