In the meantime, the first trial of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act is just a day away.
A large crowd is expected to gather near the Central District Court building tomorrow, and the court has strengthened security in case of a possible safety accident.
For more information, I'll connect with a reporter and find out. Reporter Kim Dahyun!
[Reporter]
Yes, this is the Seoul Central District Court.
[Anchor]
What's the mood in the court now?
[Reporter]
Tensions are also rising in the court a day before Lee's sentence.
Organizations supporting representative Lee and conservative groups each predicted a large-scale rally tomorrow.
The court plans to organize a special security management team in preparation for safety accidents and maintain order with the cooperation of the police.
Security checks will be strengthened tomorrow, and ordinary vehicles except essential business vehicles will not be allowed inside the Seoul Court Complex.
In order to secure safe movement, the court also moved the sentencing court from a small court with about 30 seats, where the trial was held, to a medium court with about 100 seats.
In the midst of this, the court decided not to broadcast yesterday's trial live.
[Anchor]
Please also point out what the allegations of Lee's violation of the Public Official Election Act are.
[Reporter]
There are two major statements that the prosecution has made regarding the publication of false information.
First of all, CEO Lee said in a broadcast interview when he was a presidential candidate of the Democratic Party that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, who was a key practitioner in the Daejang-dong development project, when he was mayor of Seongnam.
Regarding the suspicion of preferential treatment to change the use of the Baekhyun-dong site during the parliamentary audit,
There is also a part of the statement to the effect that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened it and forced it to be repurposed.
The prosecution believes that CEO Lee lied to draw a line with the suspicion of development corruption.
The key to tomorrow's conclusion is whether the court views the representative's remarks as "false facts" or "subjective expressions."
[Anchor]
This is the first ruling in the ongoing representative case, and what kind of repercussions are expected from the outcome of this sentence?
[Reporter]
If Lee is fined more than 1 million won for violating the Public Official Election Act, he will lose his parliamentary seat and be deprived of his right to run for the next five years.
It could hurt the political life of Lee, the next leading presidential candidate.
The Democratic Party must also return 43.4 billion won in campaign funds that were preserved in the last presidential election.
On the contrary, if CEO Lee is acquitted, the prosecution is expected to face a backlash of "excessive prosecution."
It can also be expected that CEO Lee will be sentenced to less than 1 million won.
In this case, CEO Lee can say that he has avoided the worst, but it is becoming difficult to shake off the "criminal stigma."
The prosecution, which has been struggling with the maximum sentence according to the sentencing standards, is also inevitably hit to some extent.
So far, I'm Kim Da-hyun of YTN at the Seoul Central District Court.
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