An appeal victory enables a South Korean opposition leader to get over the presidential obstacle

On Wednesday, a South Korean appeals court overturned a lower court’s decision and eliminated a potential obstacle to main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s presidential campaign by determining that he was not guilty of breaking the election law.

The judicial proceedings have brought attention on Lee, who, despite his own legal issues, is predicted by pollsters to be the most likely candidate to succeed President Yoon Suk Yeol should the embattled leader’s impeachment be upheld by a constitutional court.

A decision that found Lee guilty of making a false statement in 2021 during a parliamentary audit of a land development project in the city of Seongnam, when he was mayor, was overturned by the Seoul High Court.

In response to Wednesday’s High Court decision, Lee declared, “It is truly outrageous that all this energy and national resources were spent for what is an obvious outcome,” adding that the case was politically motivated and that it fully vindicated him.

Had the Seoul Central District Court’s decision from last year—which sentenced Lee to a year in prison with a two-year suspension—been sustained, it would have put his candidacy for president in jeopardy.

However, prosecutors pledged later on Wednesday to challenge the latest decision in a Supreme Court appeal.

“Inconsistent with the rules of experience and common sense,” the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office noted in a statement, adding that the decision misconstrued the law.

In the event that the Constitutional Court supports Yoon’s impeachment for his brief proclamation of martial law in December, South Korea will convene a snap election within 60 days.

Lee is being trial for a number of offenses, including bribery and charges mostly related to a $1 billion real estate development scandal, in addition to the election law violation case.

After being found guilty of breaking the election law, lawmakers who receive fines of at least one million won ($682) or a suspended sentence are prohibited from running for office for at least five years and lose their seats in the house.

In the 2022 presidential election, Lee, 61, fell to Yoon by the narrowest margin ever.

Lee was stabbed in the neck by a man at an event in 2024, but he survived the attack and had surgery.