Seoul's top educator said Tuesday he will soon go to the Constitutional Court to fight the slander charges leveled against him during last year's election campaign, claiming freedom of speech.
  

Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is standing trial in appellate court on charges that he spread false rumors about his conservative rival ahead of last year's election.
  

If the Supreme Court convicts him, Cho will have to give up his post and return some 3 billion won ($2.8 million) in campaign funds provided by state coffers.
  

A lower court found him guilty, saying Cho continuously accused Koh Seung-duk of using his green card to educate his children in the United States in effort to prove Koh unqualified to lead South Korea's education system.
  

Koh denied being a U.S. resident and explained that his children were U.S. citizens by birth.
  

Last Friday, Cho announced his plans to ask the Constitutional Court to reconsider the constitutionality of false accusations stated in Article 250 Section 2 of the Public Official Election Act.
  

"Almost none of the (industrialized) OECD countries ban spreading false rumors," Cho said. "I'm preparing to file a constitutional appeal because such restrictions violate the freedom of expression."
  

If the Seoul High Court accepts his request, his current trial will be suspended until the Constitutional Court deliberates. (Yonhap)