President Lee Jae-myung's trial on 'illegal remittances to North Korea' has been halted… All five ongoing criminal trials are suspended.

The first trial related to the 'illegal remittance to North Korea' allegations against President Lee Jae-myung has come to a standstill.

With the trials involving President Lee being postponed or not scheduled one after another, all five currently ongoing cases are effectively in a state of suspension.

On the morning of the 22nd, the 11th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Song Byeong-hoon) announced during the 7th preparatory hearing for the specific crime of aggravated punishment in relation to bribery through a third party and violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, involving President Lee, former Gyeonggi Province Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, and former Chairman of the Ssangbangwool Group Kim Seong-tae, that the trial date would be set at a later time.

The subsequent scheduling means that the next trial date will not be immediately confirmed, indicating that a date will be set later considering the circumstances. The court explained, "It is necessary to coordinate the schedule comprehensively reviewing the opinions of the defense and future procedures."

All trials surrounding President Lee are in a 'postponed' state.

There are five major criminal cases related to President Lee, which include the current 'illegal remittance to North Korea’ allegations, a trial for conspiracy to commit perjury, a retrial for violations of the Public Office Election Act, a trial over undue benefits in the Daejang-dong development project, and a trial concerning the misuse of Gyeonggi Province corporate credit cards. Among these, there are currently no cases approaching a verdict, and most are stalled at the preparatory hearing stage.

With the suspension of this trial, all of President Lee Jae-myung's criminal trials are now tentatively halted without a schedule.

Legal experts suggest that "the need for coordination with political schedules and the President's duties may have influenced this situation."

Image source: President Lee Jae-myung / News1