Yoon Approves Request for Arrest of Lee Jae-myung... Kim Dong-cheol Appointed as KEPCO President

Minister of Industry Bang Moon-gyu to be appointed tomorrow

President Yoon Suk-yeol approved the request for consent to arrest Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 19th, who had an arrest warrant issued over the 'Baekhyeon-dong development project preferential treatment suspicion' and the 'Ssangbangwool Group North Korea remittance suspicion.'

The presidential office spokesperson stated that President Yoon approved the request for consent to arrest Lee while attending the 78th United Nations General Assembly high-level session in New York, USA.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Assembly Act stipulates that after the Ministry of Justice submits the arrest consent proposal to the National Assembly, the Speaker of the National Assembly must report it at the first plenary session, and it must be put to a secret ballot vote 'within 72 hours after 24 hours of reporting.' The arrest consent proposal is expected to be voted on after the plenary session on the 20th and the vote on the 21st. It is possible that it will be held together with the vote on the motion to dismiss Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the plenary session on the 21st.

Lee was issued an arrest warrant on charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and incitement to perjury related to the Baekhyeon-dong development project preferential treatment suspicion, and on charges of bribery by a third party under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act related to the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance suspicion. Lee was urgently transferred to a hospital due to health deterioration caused by prolonged fasting the previous day.

Meanwhile, President Yoon appointed former National Assembly member Kim Dong-cheol as the 22nd president of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) for a three-year term on the same day. President Kim is the first CEO from a political background since the establishment of KEPCO in 1961. A presidential office official also stated that the appointment plan for nominee Visit Kyoo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, was approved on the 20th.