South Korea top court overturns presidential frontrunner’s criminal case

1/5/2025 15:41

South Korea's Supreme Court overturned on Thursday an earlier ruling that had cleared election frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of election law violation, throwing into doubt his eligibility to run for the presidency.



Lee, the candidate of the liberal Democratic Party which controls parliament, leads opinion polls to win a snap presidential election sparked by former conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol's ouster over his imposition of martial law.



The election law violation case against Lee had been closely watched since a ruling that removes him from the ballot could further deepen divisions in society, after months of political turmoil that has hampered efforts to steer Asia's fourth-largest economy through the choppy waters of U.S. tariffs.



In March, an appeals court had cleared Lee of violating the election law, but prosecutors had appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.



Lee is embroiled in several criminal trials, but the election law case was in the spotlight because if the Supreme Court overturned Lee's not guilty verdict and it is finalised, it would bar him from contesting elections for at least five years.