SNS spat centers on Choe's past remarks

Han says trial means guilty verdict; Choe calls it 'rigged ruling'

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choe Min-hee speaks at the National Assembly press room on Friday regarding her opposition to the impeachment of President Lee Jae-myung. [Yonhap]
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choe Min-hee speaks at the National Assembly press room on Friday regarding her opposition to the impeachment of President Lee Jae-myung. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choe Min-hee traded barbs on SNS on Saturday over the Public Official Election Act violation trials of President Lee Jae-myung and former President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The dispute began after media reports surfaced of a recording from a closed-door party membership meeting last month in which Choe said the trial of a sitting president on Public Official Election Act charges and Yoon's current trial "are exactly the same."

Yoon received a ruling invalidating his election at the appellate level in his Public Official Election Act trial. Lee's case under the same law was remanded by the Supreme Court with a finding of guilt.

Han wrote on Facebook that day that Choe was right. "The moment the trial opens, President Lee will be found guilty and his election invalidated," Han said. "He is a 'president with an expiration date' — it ends the moment the trial begins."

Han added that while Yoon's case still had a Supreme Court third-instance hearing remaining, leaving open the possibility of a verdict reversal, Lee's case was different. "Because the Supreme Court's full bench remanded the case with a finding of guilt, there is absolutely no possibility of the guilty verdict being overturned to not guilty," Han said.

Choe rebuffed Han on Facebook. "Han Dong-hoon, stop lying," she wrote, arguing that Yoon was "irreversibly guilty" following the appellate court ruling against him, while Lee's acquittal at the appellate level had been overturned through what she called "a rigged remand by Jo Hee-de."

Han fired back, saying Choe's response was "completely different from what she said in her own recording." "I understand she wants to walk it back after getting grief from pro-Lee politicians in the Democratic Party for accidentally saying something correct, but digging in like this is just embarrassing," Han said.

Han added, "Instead of just insisting, anyone is welcome to try to rebuff me."

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon attends a plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon attends a plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Thursday. [Yonhap]

hajun825@heraldcorp.com