Lee Jaemyung's "Day of Destiny"...The first trial of the election law will be sentenced shortly.

[Anchor]
The first sentence of the first trial of the main opposition party leader and Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea will begin shortly.Depending on the result of the sentence

, not only Lee, who is considered the next presidential candidate, but also the Democratic Party could suffer a fatal blow.

Let's find out how the sentence will proceed today by connecting the YTN legal team reporter.

Kim Chul-hee and Kim Da-hyun, please come out.

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
We are at the Seoul Central District Court.

The court building behind me is crowded with reporters and audience members ahead of the sentencing.

Here, I will deliver the news of the trial vividly with reporter Kim Chul-hee.

Reporter Kim, the sentencing hearing will begin at 2:30 p.m.

Lee will also arrive at the court soon, what is the current atmosphere around the court?

[Reporter Kim Chulhee]
We came to Seocho-dong early in the morning to see the situation.

Thousands of experienced people surround the courthouse, and now it's a tight atmosphere.Police said they have deployed 46 task forces at the scene, which is about 2,400 people, according to the number of people.

Many experiences were mobilized because thousands of people were expected to attend the rally related to Lee Jae-myung.

After a group supporting Lee reported a rally involving 5,000 people, a conservative group also announced that 1,000 people would attend the rally condemning Lee.

Both sides began a full-fledged rally at 11 a.m.

The side calling for Lee Jae-myung's innocence occupied part of the road between the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul High Prosecutor's Office, a little away from the court, and started a rally.

The conservative group continues to rally right in front of the courthouse, at the courthouse three-way intersection.

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
There are many people who are concerned about the accident today, so how is the court preparing for it now?

[Reporter Kim Chulhee]
As you said, a large crowd is actually concentrated around Seocho-dong.

The court established an "order maintenance plan" and specially organized a government office security management team.

Visitors can enter only after ID verification and luggage inspection from the main gate of the building.

Currently, ordinary vehicles except essential business vehicles are not allowed to enter the Seoul Court Complex.

This measure will remain until 20 o'clock, so users can refer to it.

In addition, more security personnel are deployed inside the courtroom, in the passageway, and in the path that representative Lee will travel to and from.

In order to prepare for an emergency, court security will also be used to guard the three judges on their way home from work.

The sentencing court has also moved to a 100-seat heavy court, not a 30-seat small court where the existing trial was conducted.

At the time of sentencing, there are no scheduled trials in other courts around the middle court, so security checks for audience members are expected to be conducted more thoroughly.

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
In a little while, representative Lee Jae-myung will appear at the court.

Today's sentence, please summarize how it goes.

[Reporter Kim Chulhee]
It's past 1:42 now.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place from 2:30 p.m., but usually Lee Jae-myung has not appeared until about 10 minutes before the trial.

After representative Lee Jae-myung enters the court, the trial begins in earnest, and the court makes a judgment on the detailed charges. At the end of this process, a sentence will be sentenced, and a reading of the order will proceed.

However, it is difficult to estimate how long it will take before ordering.

Some say that it usually takes about an hour, and in this case, the issue is simple and will be over in about 30 minutes.

As the prosecution is not very complicated, it is expected that it will be within an hour at the most.

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
You said that it is expected to be about an hour at the most, but I think the time it takes to sentence may vary depending on what the court sees as an issue.

Lee is currently on four trials in both the Seoul Central District Court and the Suwon District Court.

Let's summarize the details of today's case, which will be the first of its kind to be sentenced.

[Reporter Kim Chulhee]
Today's trial is first of all, representative Lee Jae-myung's trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. The law applied by the prosecution is
Article 250 (1) of the Public Official Election Act
.

It is a clause that punishes candidates if they publish false facts about their actions for the purpose of election.

The prosecution indicted Lee on two occasions for committing such violations of the law.

In December 2021, when Lee was a presidential candidate, he judged that he falsely said he did not know about the late Kim Moon-ki, who was a key practitioner in the Daejang-dong development project, when he was mayor of Seongnam.

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
The prosecution believes that CEO Lee lied to draw a line with the suspicion of corruption in Daejang-dong development, even though he was in close relationship with Kim on a business trip abroad and receiving face-to-face reports.

Another comment came from the National Audit Office in October of the same year, right?

[Reporter Kim Chulhee]
That's right.

The second comment was a false statement about the site of Baekhyun-dong, which came out of the National Audit Office.

CEO Lee repurposed the site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyun-dong, which was a green area when he was mayor of Seongnam, and suspicions were raised that it was done when he came as a lobbyist for an apartment development project.

However, he made the remarks to the effect that "the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened to make a problem of dereliction of duty and was forced to change the use." The prosecution also saw this as a false fact.

In September, in a final trial, Lee was sentenced to two years in prison, the maximum sentence according to the sentencing criteria.

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
Regarding Baekhyun-dong's remarks, the prosecution believes that the evidence proved that it was a false statement.

However, CEO Lee denies all related charges and is now pleading not guilty.

Please point out CEO Lee's argument as well.

[Reporter Kim Chulhee]
First of all, CEO Lee has been emphasizing that he didn't know Kim.

It is true that they did various activities together, but at that time, they only recognized Kim as a lower-level employee and did not clearly recognize his existence.

In the case of Baekhyun-dong's remarks, they argue that expressions such as "I was threatened" and "I felt pressured" cannot be punished as false facts because they are subjective emotions.

He also reiterated that it was a political indictment, saying, "The prosecution fabricated evidence and cases."

[Reporter Kim Dahyun]
To summarize what you said again, the prosecution is asking for the maximum sentence according to the sentencing criteria, saying CEO Lee lied clearly.

On the other hand, CEO Lee is fighting for complete innocence.

As legal issues are intertwined and it can affect the next presidential election, more attention is being paid to the results of today's first trial.

We will also watch the afternoon trial situation closely on the spot and deliver it accurately.

So far, the Seoul Central District Court has informed you.