What latest ruling on DP's Lee Jae-myung means for nation's political scene

For a closer look on what today's ruling could mean for the nation, we're joined by our political correspondent Kim Do-yeon.

Do-yeon, why does the opposition leader's legal case matter?

First, the obvious reason is that Democratic Party of Korea Chair Lee Jae-myung is the most favored candidate to be the next president.

And, as we all know there could be an early presidential election that will kick off within a matter of weeks if the Constitutional Court upholds President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment.

Take a look at the most recent survey.

According to a survey conducted by Gallup on 1,003 adults aged over 18 from last Tuesday to Thursday,

DP leader Lee Jae-myung was the most favored candidate for the next presidency at 36 percent, followed by Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo at 9 percent ,and former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon at 4 percent.

This of course was surveyed before the ruling today.

That means there are some swing voters who could have had doubts over Lee Jae-myung due to the legal battles, and since he's been found not guilty he could be attracting more voters.

Right, but is the case over and done with?

Of course, the case can be taken to the Supreme Court, which would be the final and definite ruling.

Now, since it's the prosecutors that lost the case at the appeals court, they are the ones that will have to appeal the case.

The ruling People Power Party lawmakers are already calling for prosecutors to do so.

As we saw from Hayoung's report just now, if there is an appeal and if the Supreme Court overturns the latest decision to acquit Lee Jae-myung, Lee will lose his legislative seat and be barred from running for a public office for the next five years.

Here is the thing the Supreme Court has three months to make a ruling if prosecutors do appeal.

That means even if the Constitutional Court's decides to uphold President Yoon's impeachment within the next couple weeks which kicks off a presidential election election day would be in just 60 days.

This means theoretically speaking, DP Chair Lee Jae-myung could be the president before the Supreme Court rules on his case anyway which would pause the legal process.

Article 84 of South Korea’s Constitution states that the president shall not be charged with a criminal offense during his tenure of office, barring insurrection or treason.

And it's all up to the Supreme Court's decision.

Take a listen to an expert.

"Even if the prosecutors speed up the appeal process and Lee Jae-myung doesn't purposely delay the legal process, the final issue at hand would be the will of the Supreme Court"

Does this affect President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court?

To put it simply of course it shouldn't.

But the two cases have always been tied together in context as it has to do with the country's two most influential politicians.

The President, and the chairman of the main opposition who has the majority on the floor.

And by the looks of it the verdict from the Constitutional Court won't be coming this week as there were no announcement today and it usually comes two days before.

Now, it's highly likely it will come before April 18 though, when two justices retire.

And in the meantime, messages from lawmakers could be a bit different from both parties now.

For example, the ruling People Power Party lawmakers have been accusing Lee of delaying the trial process for his alleged crime so the presidential election happens before the final ruling.

However, Lee has been acquitted and while prosecutors may appeal, such a message may not carry the same weight as it did before this latest ruling.

Thank you for the report.

Thank you.