[The Editors' Verdict]Lee Jae-myung Must Untie the Knot He Tied Himself

Lee Jae-myung Faces Critical Juncture Today
Democratic Party's Internal Strife Deepens Regardless of Detention
Only Lee Can End the Factional Conflict

On September 20, the day before the National Assembly vote on the arrest motion for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, I briefly imagined myself in his position. This was right after Lee issued a statement effectively making a public request for the rejection of the arrest motion against him. At that time, Lee was on the 21st day of his hunger strike, and within the party, there were clashing voices demanding either an official party stance to reject the motion or a declaration in favor of its passage. On the 19th day of his hunger strike, Lee was transferred to the hospital, and given his deteriorating health, he could have chosen to remain silent. Even if the arrest motion passed in the National Assembly, resulting in the worst-case scenario of his detention after a court warrant review, he could have left the image of an opposition leader being persecuted by prosecutors by appearing in a wheelchair or hospital bed. He also could have avoided imprisonment by applying for a detention warrant review or requesting bail?at least, that was my shallow speculation as a reporter.

However, Lee reversed his promise made three months earlier to give up his parliamentary immunity and issued instructions for the motion to be rejected. The indefinite hunger strike he began at the press conference marking his first anniversary as party leader on August 31, vowing to "block the destruction of democracy with a do-or-die resolve," was thus effectively confirmed by Lee himself as a "shielding hunger strike" to avoid arrest. Some even questioned whether his prolonged fasting had clouded his judgment. Many now view Lee's demand for rejection as a self-defeating move.

The arrest motion for Lee passed the National Assembly by just one vote over the required majority of 148. It is estimated that among those who abstained (9 votes) or cast invalid ballots (11 votes) during the first vote in February, 10 switched to support the motion this time. This outcome reflects the disappointment of Democratic Party lawmakers who, unable to vote for passage during the first round, changed their stance toward Lee, who himself had shifted from a "do-or-die" position.

Reviewing the events before and after the vote on Lee's arrest motion, it is clear that some within the Democratic Party sensed early on that the motion would pass. On September 21, the day of the vote, former floor leader Park Kwang-on met with Lee and then relayed Lee's somewhat out-of-place messages at the general assembly just before the plenary session: the establishment of a body for integrated party management and the assertion that "the most important criterion for the general election is competitiveness." It is interpreted that Park, who had previously called for Lee's resignation, presented Lee with a compromise proposal containing the dissenting faction's conditions for rejecting the motion, but Lee effectively refused by responding with "fair nomination management."

Because of this, the pro-Lee faction now claims that the dissenting faction passed the arrest motion to secure nomination rights for next year's general election, and they are even preparing to push for Lee to make nominations from prison. They have also begun efforts to identify and discipline those who voted in favor of the motion. The Democratic Party did not adopt an official party line on the arrest motion, stating that it would respect the conscience votes of individual lawmakers as constitutional officeholders. Nevertheless, the pro-Lee leadership is labeling those who voted for the motion as "traitors" and is working to purge the dissenting faction.

In a bizarre turn of events, Democratic Party lawmakers who had previously been critical of Lee publicly revealed their ballots photographed inside the voting booth or confessed, "I voted for rejection." The day after the arrest motion passed, Lee issued a statement declaring, "The Democratic Party is the only political group that will fight against the tyranny of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration," but in reality, the fight is taking place within the Democratic Party itself.

On September 26, Lee will undergo a pretrial detention warrant review at the court. Regardless of the outcome, the internal war within the Democratic Party is certain to intensify. The only person who can put an end to the party's internal strife is Lee Jae-myung himself.