The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act to suspend criminal trial proceedings during the time when a presidential candidate is elected. This comes as the Supreme Court's en banc body remanded the Public Official Election Act case involving Lee Jae-myung, the party's presidential candidate, with a guilty ruling, aiming to change the law to prevent controversy assuming his election as a prominent candidate.
Kim Yong-min, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, today introduced a bill that would suspend court proceedings in cases where the defendant is the elected president. The amendment would introduce a clause into existing law that states, 'When a defendant is elected in a presidential election, the court must suspend trial proceedings from the date of election until the end of their term.'
Under Article 84 of the Constitution, the sitting president has immunity from prosecution. However, whether this provision applies to existing trials is a matter of debate among academics and legal circles. Given that the Supreme Court remanded a not guilty ruling with a guilty finding, social confusion surrounding constitutional interpretation is inevitable. The Democratic Party of Korea, which has increased its chances of being in power, seeks to amend the law to explicitly mention the 'suspension of criminal trial proceedings for the president.'
The Democratic Party of Korea is hastening the processing of the amendment in the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee. Jeong Cheong-rae, the Judiciary Committee member from the Democratic Party, said during a full meeting of the committee today, "We need to ensure that Article 84 of the Constitution, which applies to defendants elected as president, also facilitates the procedural realization of immunity from prosecution during their term," and stated that she would present the amendment to the committee in the afternoon.
Jo Seung-rae, communications chief of the Democratic Party's election campaign committee, also noted after a meeting on the same day, "Even with the clear constitutional interpretation of presidential immunity from prosecution, if arbitrary interpretations are possible, there could be a national shock or severe confusion," adding, "There was a suggestion that constitutional interpretation should be more clearly specified in law, and so we are proceeding with the amendment."
A bill aimed at effectively eliminating the criminal charges against Lee Jae-myung has also been proposed. Park Hee-seung introduced an amendment to the Public Official Election Act last November, proposing to delete the offense of 'publication of false information' and to raise the threshold for nullifying an election from 1 million won to 10 million won. This comes amidst concerns that the party could fall into significant turmoil after the end of the presidential term.
Even if the Criminal Procedure Act is amended as the Democratic Party intends to suspend the trial of the Public Official Election Act violation case, there remains a high possibility that a guilty verdict will be confirmed in the remand trial after the presidential term ends. If Lee Jae-myung is fined 1 million won or more, the Democratic Party will have to return the election campaign fund of 43.4 billion won received during the 20th presidential election.