Yoon Hee-seok: "Lee Jae-myung Will Step Down at a Certain Point"

Regarding the indictment of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Yoon Hee-seok, spokesperson for the People Power Party, predicted that "at some point, he will have no choice but to step down" concerning the future position of the Democratic Party.

On the 23rd, Yoon said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "If we talk about an 'orderly resignation,' then Lee should make the courageous decision to relinquish his position at an appropriate time. This is a message from the perspective of the Democratic Party."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the launch meeting of the Task Force for Responding to the Four Major Livelihood Bombs held at the National Assembly on the 22nd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

He explained, "Can this system really be maintained until the general election? Physically, there are currently two indictments, and the number of cases expected to be indicted is even greater than those already indicted. Just considering the two indictments, it will probably be very difficult due to attending trials."

He elaborated that it would be difficult for Lee to perform his duties as party leader normally while attending court. "He will have to keep going back and forth to the court for trials and naturally prepare for them. Is it possible to carry out normal duties? If that happens, the Democratic Party will have to unite around the leader, which means they will inevitably take a hardline stance in relations with the ruling party. This will continue to cause political deadlock, and within the party, with the general election approaching, there will be significant concerns about whether this is acceptable."

In the People Power Party, ahead of the vote on the arrest consent motion for Representative Ha Young-je, who has had an arrest warrant requested on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, lawmakers Park Jeong-ha, Choi Hyung-doo, Lee Tae-gyu, Yoo Ui-dong, and Kim Hyung-dong are conducting a signature campaign to abolish parliamentary immunity. Yoon said, "Our party was the one that demanded Lee Jae-myung give up his parliamentary immunity. Therefore, we cannot say anything different about this matter just because it involves a lawmaker from our party," adding, "So, the party's official stance is that this arrest consent motion should be passed."

When asked by the host if most People Power Party lawmakers would support the arrest consent motion for Representative Ha, he replied, "I think so," and added, "The Democratic Party must be having a lot of concerns about this issue."

He continued, "If they support the arrest consent motion, they will be criticized with 'What did you do during Lee Jae-myung's leadership?' On the other hand, if they vote against it, they will be accused of 'protecting Lee Jae-myung by shielding him even with ruling party lawmakers.' Ultimately, the Democratic Party's actions at that time are likely to be seen as against public common sense."