The Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province said it made the decision in consideration of his status as president.
"In order to ensure that the defendant (Lee) can fulfill his official duties guaranteed by the Constitution, we decided to postpone the trial to a later date for the sake of continuity in state affairs," the court explained.
Lee has been accused of arranging the illegal transfer of US$8 million to North Korea between 2019 and 2020 to facilitate cross-border projects during his time as governor of Gyeonggi Province.
Tuesday's decision comes after similar postponements of his four other separate trials, which include accusations of making false statements, soliciting perjury, improperly using a corporate credit card, and helping a private developer reap huge profits from a land development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2015, when he was mayor there, causing massive losses to the city.
Now that all five of Lee's pending trials have been suspended indefinitely following his inauguration early last month, controversies remain over the trials of other defendants and alleged accomplices, which are scheduled to proceed.
There have also been disputes within legal circles over the scope of prosecution. Although the Constitution grants a sitting president immunity from criminal charges, except for those of insurrection or treason, all the allegations against Lee stem from incidents that occurred before his election on June 4.
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