Minister Cheon Dae-yeop of the Court Administration said on the 3rd regarding the appeal of Lee Jae-myung, the representative of the Democratic Party of Korea, related to the breach of the Public Official Election Act, "Generally, a direct judgment without sending the case back to the high court is not done easily." A direct judgment means that the Supreme Court directly judges the case without sending it back to the High Court.
On the same day, Minister Cheon attended an urgent question session at the National Assembly and responded to a question from Representative Jang Dong-hyuk of the People Power Party. Representative Jang noted, "There was a guilty verdict in the first trial, and the appellate court found it not guilty in all aspects," and said, "Even if the Supreme Court overturns with a guilty assertion, it will not be easy for the Supreme Court to conduct a direct judgment because the appellate court did not determine the sentencing."
Minister Cheon responded, "I believe the appeal court will make a good judgment" when Representative Jang asked for a prompt ruling and to adhere to the '6-3-3 principle' in the Supreme Court.
In some factions of the ruling party, there are claims that the Supreme Court should conduct a direct judgment to expedite the final ruling regarding Lee Jae-myung; however, it is pointed out that the rate of direct judgments made by the Supreme Court is only 5.5%, indicating a low likelihood.
Even if a direct judgment is not made in Lee's case, Representative Jang argues that a conclusion must swiftly be reached according to the principle that "the final ruling should be made within three months after the second trial." Minister Cheon stated, "We are striving to uphold this principle."