Court clears South Korea’s opposition chief Lee Jae-myung, paving way for presidential run
His supporters celebrated as a legal hurdle was cleared, but a Supreme Court appeal could change everything – and he still faces other cases
“I am grateful to the court for making a sound judgment based on truth and justice,” Lee said in front of cheering supporters outside the court, slamming the government for “wasting public resources” on trying to prosecute him.
The Seoul High Court overturned a previous ruling, saying that Lee, who leads the main opposition Democratic Party, was not guilty of making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act.
Lee said it was “absurd that so much energy and national resources had to be spent to reach what should have been an obvious outcome.”
“If the prosecution and this administration had devoted the same effort they used to fabricate evidence and manipulate cases against Lee Jae-myung to preventing wildfires or improving people’s lives, how much better off we might be,” Lee said.
