Lee Jun-seok says Oh Se-hoon 'should have been acquitted,' rejects conservative unity push

Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok said Monday that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon "should have been acquitted" in the appeals court ruling that cleared him of violating the Political Funds Act, while drawing a clear line against a conservative unity push proposed by former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min that would bring together Lee, Han Dong-hoon and Oh.

Speaking on CBS's "Park Sung-tae's News Show," Lee said he had been "half-skeptical" about the acquittal on appeal, adding that "rulings these days can come out completely differently depending on the judge's inclinations."

"Whether the verdict goes one way or the other depends entirely on how strictly a judge interprets the law and what their leanings are," he said. "The only newly surfaced evidence was essentially one audio recording, and ultimately the verdict came down to whether there was direct communication or not."

He added that while the appeals court ruling came from a higher court, "the political hardship Mayor Oh endured from the first-instance verdict up until the appeals ruling is something that should be looked back on."

Lee stressed that criminal trials must meet a strict standard of proof, saying, "The fundamental premise of a criminal trial is that no one should be punished unjustly under the law." He added that "the burden of stricter evidentiary proof lies with the party bringing the indictment — the special prosecutor."

He also directed a remark at the Democratic Party of Korea, saying that after everything that had unfolded, public interest whistleblower Kang Hye-kyung had come forward at the outset and told the whole story. "Among those who have actually been punished, it seems like Kang Hye-kyung is about the only one," he said. "How are we supposed to make sense of that?"

On the conservative unity proposal raised by former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, Lee drew a line, saying, "Based on what was said over a meal the other time, I cannot agree with it."

He described Yoo as someone who "values principles and philosophy," adding that Yoo "talks about breaking from certain past patterns — he is not someone who frames things around personalities."

"If you look back, even former lawmaker Yoo was once drawn into a people-centered rallying call, which led to the merger of the Bareunjeongdang and the People's Party to form the Bareunmirae Party," Lee said. "That is precisely why he prefers unity built around values rather than around individuals."

On the question of joining forces with independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, Lee shrugged it off, saying it did not matter whether it was Han or anyone else, but that "there must be no one scheming behind the scenes."

"Who would want someone who schemes, leaks strange things to reporters, and goes on broadcasts in the morning saying things that are out of line?" he said.