Party counters opposition offensive over 'salmon drinking party' perjury prison sentence

Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace of Gyeonggi Province, testifies as a witness at a hearing of the National Assembly's special parliamentary investigation committee on alleged fabricated indictments by prosecutors under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, in April. [Newsis]
Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace of Gyeonggi Province, testifies as a witness at a hearing of the National Assembly's special parliamentary investigation committee on alleged fabricated indictments by prosecutors under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, in April. [Newsis]

The Democratic Party of Korea moved swiftly to counter an opposition offensive after Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace of Gyeonggi Province, was sentenced to prison on perjury charges related to the so-called "salmon drinking party" allegations.

The Democratic Party said Saturday that the real significance of the first-instance citizen jury trial, which handed Lee a four-month prison term, was that "all other core charges, aside from perjury, were either acquitted or had the indictment dismissed."

Floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee, in a written briefing, pushed back against the People Power Party's characterization of the ruling as proof of a "public fraud built on a fabricated indictment frame," calling it "a blatant attempt to mislead public opinion."

Lee said the political funds law violation charges that the People Power Party had pressed most forcefully were acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict, while charges of abuse of authority related to inter-Korean aid were dismissed by the court.

She said the court's finding that prosecutors had indicted the defendant as a co-conspirator without evidence — thereby violating the right to mount a defense — "proves that a significant portion of the illegal investigation and testimony-manipulation allegations the Democratic Party exposed during the parliamentary investigation have been recognized." She added that "the face of this unconscionable political manipulation has been laid bare through the judicial judgment of a dismissed indictment."

Lee also argued that even the perjury conviction was "sharply divided, with the jury split four to three." She said it was difficult to conclude Lee Hwa-young had committed deliberate perjury, given that he had consistently maintained his factual account of the drinking party and had registered a truthful response on a polygraph test.

"The ruling has not yet been finalized, and the specific grounds will need to be examined again through an appeal," she said, urging the People Power Party to "stop its reckless attacks and rash behavior and properly reflect on the substance of a ruling that rejected most of its claims."

Lee said the People Power Party must immediately apologize for "brazenly hurling the absurd slur of 'dictatorship' at a government chosen by the people," and criticized the party as having "no standing to invoke the word dictatorship" given that it had sided with insurrection incitement that trampled on the constitutional order while its own members faced a string of investigations and trials.

She also said President Lee Jae-myung had "set an example of transparent governance and prompt communication by personally briefing the public in detail on the outcomes of his European tour," and called on the People Power Party to "watch its words and stop the irresponsible wordplay of a party that has forgotten its own wrongdoing."


killpass@heraldcorp.com