Lee Soo-jung pleads for leniency in appeal over false military exemption posts about president's sons

Lee Soo-jung, the People Power Party's Suwon Jeong district committee chair who posted false claims on social media alleging that President Lee Jae Myung's two sons had been exempted from military service during the last presidential election, maintained her innocence at her appeal trial Tuesday.

At the final hearing of her appeal on charges including violation of the Public Official Election Act, held Tuesday at Suwon High Court's Criminal Division 14 (presiding judge Heo Yang-yun), her defense attorney asked the court to acquit her. "The defendant mistook the content of the image for the truth amid fragmented memories and confusion, and this case — in which she had no awareness even of the possibility of falsehood — does not fall within the scope of punishment under the Public Official Election Act," the attorney said.

The attorney added that the post had been live for about nine minutes and was deleted voluntarily before any intervention by the National Election Commission, investigative authorities, or any other government agency. The attorney also said that Lee's public apology — in which she confirmed the information was wrong and deleted it immediately — had actually helped correct misinformation that had been circulating online.

In her final statement, Lee said she was deeply ashamed and regretful that she, having spent 30 years assessing the credibility of others' statements, had failed to question a single piece of information in her own hands. "I again offer my sincere apology to the person involved and their family, who may have been hurt by my post," she said.

She also appealed for leniency, saying she had learned during the trial that her nearly 30-year academic career could be ended by removal from office. "If I were to suddenly leave, it would not be easy to find someone to supervise the thesis work of the students writing their dissertations in my laboratory," she said.

Lee was indicted on charges of posting false content on her Facebook account on May 28 last year, ahead of the presidential election, claiming that "candidate Lee and his two sons all received military exemptions." President Lee's sons have since been confirmed to have fulfilled their military service obligations.

At the time, Lee said: "I shared information floating around online for about 10 seconds, then confirmed it was false and deleted it immediately. Please forgive me."

The first-instance court, however, found intent, ruling that the post posed a significant risk of impairing voters' rational judgment and that Lee had made no effort to verify the accuracy of its contents. It sentenced her to a fine of 3 million won ($2,210).

Under the Public Official Election Act, a confirmed sentence of 1 million won or more in fines restricts a person's right to stand for election, barring them from running as a candidate for five years.

The appeal sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Nov. 12.