Kim Byung-min "High Possibility of Rejection for Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man Arrest Motion"

"Once Passed, Each Bulletproof Shield of the Democratic Party Crumbles"

Kim Byung-min, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, predicted that the motion to consent to the arrest of lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, who left the Democratic Party of Korea in connection with the 2021 party convention cash envelope scandal, is likely to be rejected.

On the 30th, Kim said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "If the parliamentary immunity is waived here, the Democratic Party's shield will start to collapse one by one."

Kim Byung-min, candidate for the Supreme Council member of the People Power Party. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The prosecution filed arrest warrants for the two lawmakers on the 24th, and the motion to consent to their arrest is scheduled to be reported at the National Assembly plenary session on the same day. The Democratic Party generally voted against the motions to consent to the arrest of former lawmaker Roh Woong-rae and party leader Lee Jae-myung in the past, but amid growing criticism of the 'shielded National Assembly,' many experts now predict the motion may pass.

Kim said, "If the motion passes, wouldn't that mean waiving parliamentary immunity? (If it passes) Then who is next? Leader Lee," adding, "Wasn't it Leader Lee and lawmaker Roh Woong-rae who kept blocking it with parliamentary immunity as a shield?"

The 'dilemma' of the Democratic Party lawmakers who received cash envelopes is also why he predicts the motion will be rejected. Kim explained, "It seems to be a dilemma for Democratic Party lawmakers. There are people who prepared the cash envelopes and those who delivered them, and there are talks of about 20 people. We don't know who they are," suggesting that the thoughts of the 20 or so lawmakers who received the motion to consent to Yoon's arrest could become complicated.

Kim said, "(Their minds) must be complicated. They probably don't want the arrest to happen, but if it does, the public might think, 'The Democratic Party's morality is really over.' I think the Democratic Party is caught in a dilemma because of these two lawmakers."