Lee Jung-mi Sends Text to Justice Party Members... Emphasizes Party Stance on 'Approval of Lee's Arrest Motion'

"Based on the Party's Stance to Abolish Immunity from Arrest"
"Supporting the Arrest Consent Does Not Mean Supporting Detention"

The Justice Party has reaffirmed that there is no change in its stance to adopt a party resolution to 'approve' the vote on the arrest consent bill for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

On the 25th, Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, stated in a text message sent to party members, "Our party's lawmakers plan to vote based on the party resolution that 'the parliamentary immunity of lawmakers should be abolished.'

She added, "Supporting the arrest consent bill does not equate to supporting the detention of Leader Lee," and explained, "The process of handling the arrest consent bill in the National Assembly is not about judging whether a crime has been committed, as it is not the judiciary."

She clarified that Leader Lee has consistently stated that "general election candidates, if elected, will renounce immunity from prosecution and arrest privileges related to corruption allegations and will advocate for the introduction of a national recall system for lawmakers," and that "instead of clinging to parliamentary immunity, it is proper to voluntarily seek investigation by investigative agencies."

Lee Jung-mi, Leader of the Justice Party. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

She continued, "It is right for Leader Lee himself to relinquish the 'privileges' he promised to the public and to confidently contest the grounds for detention in court like ordinary citizens," adding, "This was also a matter he promised the public just a year ago during his presidential candidacy."

She further emphasized, "If a Justice Party lawmaker were in the same situation as Leader Lee, the judgment would be the same," and stressed, "If the Justice Party makes an exception to its party resolution to abolish parliamentary immunity, which it has maintained for 10 years, it will no longer be able to call on the People Power Party or anyone else to give up parliamentary immunity."

The vote on the arrest consent bill for Leader Lee is scheduled to take place at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 27th.