Representative Ko Dong-jin of the People Power Party (Gangnam-gu, Seoul) announced that he submitted a proposal to amend the Public Official Election Act to clarify the criteria for 'action' in the composition of the crime of publishing false facts to the National Assembly on the 7th.
This is aimed directly at the Democratic Party of Korea, which proposed an amendment to the law to remove the term 'action,' keeping in mind the election law violation case involving presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The Democratic Party is planning to push through the amendment at a National Assembly Administrative Safety Committee meeting today.
Recently, the Supreme Court acknowledged that candidate Lee had lied regarding the Baekhyeon-dong project and overturned the case with a guilty implication, suggesting that it aims to eliminate the grounds for punishment by amending the election law. If the amendment takes effect, candidate Lee could receive a ruling of nullity (unable to be punished due to the repeal of the law).
In this regard, Representative Ko included 'related statements or remarks' in the criteria for 'action,' allowing for a precise judgment on whether those statements and remarks regarding the action are false.
Representative Ko Dong-jin noted, 'If the Democratic Party removes the criteria for action, false statements made by politicians for the purpose of being elected will become rampant, and trust in politics will collapse rapidly. Furthermore, if there is no criteria for action, situations will arise where it is unclear how far a candidate has published false facts and what the criteria are.'