Bae Jun-hyun, chief judge of the Suwon High Court, said on the 16th that retrial requirements are strictly defined and that a case can be reopened only when new and clearly compelling evidence emerges, referring to the case of Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace affairs of Gyeonggi Province.
Bae made the remarks at a parliamentary audit of the Seoul High Court and the Suwon High Court held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, after Joo Jin-woo, a lawmaker of the People Power Party, asked about the requirements for a retrial in connection with moves by Lee's side to seek one. "For evidence to prove innocence, there must have been circumstances that made it impossible to submit it while the trial was under way," Bae said. He added that "taken together, the evidence must show a high probability that the earlier guilty verdict cannot be sustained."
Yoon Sang-hyun, another People Power Party lawmaker, raised allegations of links between President Lee Jae-myung and the case involving fund transfers to North Korea, and asked whether a retrial would be justified. Bae said Lee's side has not filed for a retrial and that it would not be appropriate for him to offer an opinion on a hypothetical situation.
Lee is serving a prison term after the Supreme Court finalized a sentence of seven years and eight months on charges of taking bribes from Ssangbangwool Group and conspiring in the transfer of funds to North Korea. In June this year, he received an additional four-month sentence in a jury trial on a perjury charge related to claims that he had been coaxed into testimony at a so-called "salmon drinking party." Lee has recently called publicly for parole and other measures, citing alleged procedural violations in the investigation and trial of the North Korea fund transfer case.
Joo said that reopening the Ssangbangwool case now, with the ink barely dry on the verdict, would effectively create an endless series of trials and undermine legal stability. "Lee also faces personal bribery charges, and if a special pardon were granted under these circumstances, it would look as though the president had no choice but to pardon him because he is an accomplice and has a vulnerability," Joo said.