Fact Check: Lee Jae-Myung Was NOT Sentenced To Prison

Not Convicted

Was Democratic Party Leader Lee Jae-Myung sentenced on charges of election fraud stemming from his bid for presidency in 2022? No, that's not true: Lee is currently facing multiple trials for several charges including violating election laws, but has not yet been convicted or sentenced as of Nov. 13, 2023.

The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by @koreanews139 on TikTok on Oct. 31, 2023 under the Korean title "이재명, 부정선거 혐의로 법원에서 실형을 선고받았습니다! 지금 민주주의는 난리입니다!" As translated by Lead Stories staff:

Lee Jae-myung sentenced to prison by the court on charges of election fraud! Democracy is in chaos right now!

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Nov 8 20:46:49 2023 UTC)

Despite the claim in the first frame of the video and in the caption, the speaker does not state that Lee was convicted or sentenced on any charges in the remainder of the TikTok video. The mention of "election fraud" refers to Lee facing trial on charges of violating election laws in 2022 as a presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, where he later narrowly lost the race to President Yoon Seok-Yeol of the People's Power Party.

Lee was indicted in September 2022 on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act by spreading false information during his campaign in 2021. This includes saying in a December 2021 media interview that he did not know Kim Moon-Ki, former director of the Seongnam Urban Development Cooperation, while Lee was mayor of Seongnam.

Kim was found dead during the investigation into the allegations of preferential treatment regarding a Daejang-dong development scandal, which Lee is also being investigated in a separate trial for allegedly spreading falsehoods regarding that preferential treatment charge.

Current information about Lee's trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act can be seen on the Seoul Central District Court's website by searching for "서울중앙지방법원" and case number "2022고합660" with the keyword "이재명."

There are no reliable reports from reputable Korean news outlets to corroborate the claim that Lee was convicted or sentenced by any court. Lee, current leader of the opposition party and a member of the National Assembly, is also facing trials on corruption charges related to real estate and property development projects while serving as mayor of Seongnam city. In September 2023, a judge denied an arrest warrant for Lee, stating there was no clear risk that he would destroy evidence.

On Nov. 13, 2023, multiple news outlets reported that the Seoul Central District Court announced that it would proceed with two separate trials: the first regarding perjury, which is connected to the case about violating election laws, and second on several corruption charges. The Hankyoreh, The Chosun Ilbo and MBC News reported that the results of the first trial on perjury could be expected before the election in April 2024.