Main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung has notified the court that he will not attend Friday's hearing in his trial over an alleged violation of the election law due to the ongoing parliamentary audit.

The National Assembly's defense committee, which Lee is a member of, is set to audit The May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission and the Military Manpower Administration's alternative duty review panel.

Previous hearings in the trial at the Seoul Central District Court were called off on September 8 and on 22 while Lee was staging a hunger strike in protest of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's handling of state affairs. The court has rescheduled the latest hearing to be held on October 27.

While running for president as the DP candidate in December 2021, Lee is alleged to have falsely denied knowing the late Kim Moon-ki, a senior official at the Seongnam Development Corporation involved in the Daejang-dong development scandal, when he was the city's mayor.

During an audit of Gyeonggi Province two months prior, Lee, who was serving as the provincial governor at the time, allegedly gave a false testimony that the land ministry had requested an alteration of land use purpose in the Baekhyeon-dong area.

Lee is in the midst of a separate trial at the same court for alleged corruption in the Daejang-dong, Wirye, and Baekhyeon-dong development scandals.