Park Sung-jun: "Lee Jae-myung Remains Composed Despite 'Mass Defection Votes'"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is facing a threat to his leadership following a 'mass defection' of votes in the arrest motion vote the previous day. Party spokesperson Park Sung-joon, a Democratic Party lawmaker, stated that Lee showed composure and remained unshaken despite the defections.

On the 28th, on SBS's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show," Park said, "His life itself has been one of overcoming one hardship after another, and he has overcome all difficulties. Yesterday, he was quite composed and accepted the situation well, showing a steady and unshaken demeanor."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is shaking hands with a fellow lawmaker after delivering a personal statement regarding the motion for his arrest at the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

However, the internal atmosphere within the party surrounding the mass defection of votes in the arrest motion vote the previous day does not seem to be calming down easily. Jeong Seong-ho, the leader of the pro-Lee faction, reportedly told the defecting lawmakers, "I hope you leave." Regarding this, Park said, "Overcoming that is the task for Leader Lee," adding, "In the case of Representative Jeong, it was interpreted that his intention was related to party leadership, so he probably used such expressions."

Park also admitted that he did not anticipate this outcome. He said, "There was a general meeting of lawmakers, and since Democratic Party lawmakers shared the perception that the prosecutor's investigation was excessive, I thought the motion would be overwhelmingly rejected, but since the result was otherwise, it was somewhat surprising."

He also positively evaluated the process of confirming internal party opinions during the rejection of the arrest motion. He said, "Since it was clearly confirmed that such opinions exist within the party during the rejection process, both the party leader and the leadership will make more efforts to gather diverse opinions," adding, "Because this was confirmed, the risk level may also decrease."

Regarding Jeong Soon-shin, a lawyer who was appointed as head of the National Investigation Headquarters but resigned due to his son's school violence issue, Park stated that they plan to demand an apology from the president. He said, "Appointing a former prosecutor as head of the National Investigation Headquarters shows an intention not only to control the prosecution but also the police," adding, "It is known that the prosecutor who worked with Jeong's son during the school violence incident was in charge of personnel screening, so they must have known about it but still made the appointment."