By Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Supreme Court threw into doubt frontrunner Lee Jae-myung’s eligibility to run for the presidency on Thursday by overturning an earlier ruling that had cleared him of breaking an election law.
The Supreme Court said that Lee violated election law by publicly making “false statements” during his 2022 presidential bid and sent the case back to the appeals court.
The ruling could undermine Lee’s credibility to be on the ballot and further deepen divisions in society, after months of political turmoil that have hampered efforts to steer Asia’s fourth-largest economy through the choppy waters of U.S. tariffs.
“The defendant’s remarks… were judged to be false statements on matters important enough to ruin voters’ accurate judgement on the defendant’s eligibility for public office,” said Chief Justice Jo Hee-de.
While the Supreme Court moved unusually fast to consider Lee’s election law case, it gave no deadline for the appeals court, which usually takes months to revisit rulings. It was unclear if a decision would come before the June 3 election.
Lee, who has denied any wrongdoing, said he had not expected the verdict to play out this way but pledged to follow the will of the people.
“I will trust only the people and move forward confidently,” Lee said in a post on Facebook after the ruling.
Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said the ruling was a blow to Lee and the liberal-leaning Democratic Party.
“The appeals court will decide whether to disqualify him to run for office or not, but the Supreme Court in effect found him guilty… Moderate voters, 10% of the total, will be swayed by this news,” he said.
Lee is embroiled in several criminal trials, but the election law case has been in the spotlight because if the appeals court finalises a guilty verdict in line with the Supreme Court’s decision, Lee would be barred from contesting elections for at least five years.
The Supreme Court, which can take a year or more to consider a case, made its decision on Thursday only about a month after prosecutors appealed the earlier court’s decision to clear Lee.
PARTY SAYS NO PLAN TO REPLACE LEE
Lee’s support in the polls for the snap election had been buoyed when as opposition leader he stared down a short-lived martial law declared by former President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3.
He climbed the National Assembly’s walls to avoid security cordons deployed on Yoon’s orders and also livestreamed his exploits, urging viewers to come to parliament and demonstrate to prevent the arrest of lawmakers.
In January 2024, Lee survived an assassination attempt when he was stabbed in the neck by a man who had written a manifesto saying he wanted to ensure Lee never became president.
The Democratic Party on Thursday criticised the top court’s ruling and a spokesperson told reporters there was no chance of replacing Lee as a candidate.
Some commentators, however, expect the party to look at its options.
“Within the party there will be talk about a plan B or whether it needs to replace the candidate,” said Rhee Jong-hoon, a political analyst, suggesting it could reach out to minor parties or bring in candidates to shore up support.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s acting leader Han Duck-soo resigned on Thursday ahead of his anticipated run for the presidency.
Han looks set to contest the election so he can leverage his higher profile since being thrust into the top post after Yoon’s removal from office.
A Gallup Korea survey on April 25 showed that Lee was favourite to win the election with 38%, while former head of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) Han Dong-hoon had 8% and Han Duck-soo was on 6%.
($1 = 1,423.7500 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies, Michael Perry, Saad Sayeed and Kate Mayberry)
