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Kyonggi University professor appeals ruling on post with falsehoods about president

Published: 10 Feb. 2026, 19:40

Lee Soo-jung, a criminology professor at Kyonggi University, speaks to reporters after casting her ballot for a parliamentary election at an early voting station in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 5, 2024. [YONHAP]

Lee Soo-jung, a criminology professor at Kyonggi University, has appealed against a first-instance court ruling that fined her for posting false information about then-candidate Lee Jae Myung on social media during the presidential election campaign last year.

Prof. Lee also serves as the head of the People Power Party’s district committee in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

Her legal representative submitted an appeal to the Suwon District Court, according to legal sources on Tuesday.

Last Thursday, the court sentenced Lee to a 3 million won ($2,000) fine after finding her guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act for spreading false information and slandering a candidate and the information and communications network act for defamation. She was indicted without detention.

Under the election law, a person who is fined 1 million won or more is not eligible to run for public office for five years.

In its ruling, the court said that even though the professor had deleted the post shortly afterward, that “does not diminish [the post’s] potential impact, given the far-reaching nature of online information and the risk of impairing voters’ rational decision-making.” The court also noted that Prof. Lee had neither reached a settlement with the victim nor received forgiveness.

In her final statement at trial, Prof. Lee said she had been “foolishly deceived by fake news,” adding that she was deeply remorseful for causing confusion and unintentionally harming the then-candidate and his children due to her carelessness. She appealed for leniency.

She was accused of posting false claims on her social media account on May 28, 2025, alleging that then–Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee, who is now president, and his two sons had all been exempted from mandatory military service. The DP subsequently filed a complaint.

Contrary to the post’s claims, both of President Lee’s sons served in the Air Force and were honorably discharged after completing their mandatory service at the rank of sergeant.

Prof. Lee said she had shared information circulating online for “about 10 seconds,” realized it was incorrect and immediately deleted it.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]