At the Opposition Party's General Assembly, the 'Lee Jae-myung Arrest Motion' Was Confirmed as Unjust... Likely to Be Rejected (Summary)

Park Hong-geun "Issue Not Even Worth Discussing for Party Resolution Adoption"
"Will Be Reflected Steadily in the Voting Process of the Plenary Session on the 27th"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to make the vote on the arrest motion for Representative Lee Jae-myung in the plenary session a 'free vote.'

On the 21st, after the party meeting held in the National Assembly in the afternoon, Floor Leader Park Hong-geun told reporters, "Through today's party meeting, the Democratic Party clearly confirmed by consensus among members that the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for Representative Lee and the government's submission of the arrest motion are very unfair." Park said, "Whether to adopt a party stance on handling the arrest motion for Representative Lee is not even a matter for discussion," adding, "All Democratic Party members agreed to vote freely and confidently to jointly block the reckless opposition suppression by the Yoon Seok-yeol prosecutor dictatorship regime."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is saluting the national flag at the party meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 21st. The Democratic Party will discuss the issue of processing the arrest consent motion for Lee following the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant at this meeting. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In the vote scheduled for the plenary session on the 27th, the Democratic Party is expected to lean towards rejecting the arrest motion for Representative Lee.

Floor Leader Park said, "About two members mentioned rejection, but in any case, the position is to reject," and added, "There was generally no dissent regarding the opinion to reject this issue."

At the closed party meeting held that day, Representative Lee emphasized his innocence regarding the charges against him and the unfairness of the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant.

Representative Lee said, "I think this is a historic turning point. Due to my shortcomings, we lost the presidential election, and all areas of our society, politics, and economy are regressing," and explained the details related to the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant to the members point by point, according to party spokesperson Park Sung-jun.

According to Spokesperson Park, Representative Lee said, "Looking at the warrant contents related to Daejang-dong, it ultimately proves that Lee Jae-myung did not receive any money. Even after tracking his personal accounts and thoroughly investigating those around him, nothing comes up."

He also said, "If the prosecution applies the crime of breach of trust on the grounds that the development profit recovery was insufficient, how can they explain the Busan LCT and Yangpyeong Gongheung District, where no recovery was made at all?" and added, "The prosecution's claim of 70% profit recovery is utterly absurd. I want to ask what the standards and grounds are."

Representative Lee also said, "The warrant claims that I reported and obtained approval for each item, but that is truly absurd," and questioned, "Reporting and obtaining approval for illegal acts in advance is nonsense. If so, isn't the Jung Young-hak recording a chronicle of 10 years? Wouldn't related content appear there?"

He continued, "I never thought they would fabricate crimes that do not exist," and expressed, "The warrant reveals that there was no wrongdoing while working on matters in Seongnam City and Gyeonggi Province."

Finally, he reportedly expressed apologies to party members. Representative Lee said, "Members may be very tired and exhausted because the prosecution's investigation is ongoing," and added, "Therefore, this is a burden from my presidential election defeat. As party leader, I feel indebted to the members."

Earlier, President Yoon approved the request for the arrest motion for Representative Lee, who had an arrest warrant requested due to allegations of preferential treatment in the Wirye and Daejang-dong developments and the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund allegations. The arrest motion request sent to the National Assembly that morning is scheduled to be reported at the plenary session on the 24th and then voted on at the plenary session on the 27th.