People Power Party Pressures Swift Trial for Lee Jae-myung... Kwon Young-se: "Delayed Justice Is Not Justice"

People Power Party: "The 6-3-3 principle must be upheld in Lee's election law violation trial"
Ahn Cheol-soo: "Lee Jae-myung's appeal verdict should be delivered by February 15"
Kwon Young-se: "HOICU's warrant execution is a national-level fraud"
Kwon Seong-dong: "HOICU proves itself as the Democratic Party's private army"

The People Power Party emphasized the need for swift judicial processing of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, alongside their offensive against the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HOICU) and the police who executed the arrest warrant against President Yoon. As the possibility of an early presidential election was mentioned in political circles, the party appears to be using a strategy to highlight Lee’s unsuitability while boosting their own approval ratings.

On the morning of the 16th, at an emergency meeting held at the National Assembly, Kwon Young-se, the People Power Party’s Emergency Response Committee Chairman, targeted the delay in Lee’s trial procedures, stating, "Judicial procedures against the president are proceeding at KTX speed, but there are people leisurely sitting on the slow train of judicial procedures."

Regarding Lee’s trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, for which he was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation in the first trial last November, he criticized, "According to the Public Official Election Act, the second trial verdict should be issued within three months, but two months have already passed, and the first hearing will only be held on January 23. Lee Jae-myung’s side has been using tricks such as refusing to accept lawsuit records and not receiving notices, causing the trial not to even start more than two months after the first trial verdict."

There is a forecast that the trial will gain momentum as the Criminal Division 6-2 of the Seoul High Court, which is handling Lee’s appeal, has suspended the assignment of new cases until March 12. Chairman Kwon also urged, "We must no longer tolerate Lee Jae-myung’s strategy of delaying the trial."

In addition to the trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, delays were also pointed out in trials related to charges of perjury inducement involving impersonation of a prosecutor, bribery charges related to Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, Wirye New Town, and Seongnam FC, third-party bribery involving the proxy remittance of 8 million dollars to North Korea, and breach of duty for illegal use of corporate cards during his tenure as Governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Chairman Kwon emphasized, "The public is now asking how to understand the court’s trial progress that always slows down whenever it comes to Lee. Delayed justice is not justice. We urge the judiciary for a swift and fair judgment."

Kwon Young-se, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Floor leader Kwon Seong-dong also questioned Lee’s trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, saying, "If the 6-3-3 principle (6 months for the first trial, 3 months each for the second and third trials), which is usually applied to election law-related cases, had been followed, the Supreme Court verdict should have been issued within a year." He added, "The sitting president was arrested with an illegal warrant, yet the opposition leader’s case is being postponed while watching the situation. If the judiciary’s clock runs at different speeds depending on the person, who would trust the judiciary?"

Ahn Cheol-soo, one of the People Power Party’s potential presidential candidates, also pointed out on his Facebook, "An arrest warrant for treason was executed against the sitting president in accordance with the constitution and the rule of law. The appeal trial of the leader must also be sentenced by February 15 in accordance with the rule of law," adding, "The appeal trial for Lee’s charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and perjury inducement cannot be an exception to the rule of law."

Ahn particularly argued, "The reason why extreme factional conflicts have intensified even after President Yoon’s impeachment and many citizens do not accept the execution of warrants under the rule of law is due to the judiciary’s delayed trials caused by legal manipulations aimed at making Lee Jae-myung president."

They also repeatedly claimed that the HOICU’s execution of the arrest warrant against President Yoon was illegal, arguing that the HOICU does not have investigative authority over treason and therefore has no right to request or execute arrest and search warrants. In response, the People Power Party filed a complaint with the prosecution the previous day against HOICU Chief Oh Dong-woon and others for abuse of authority and illegal arrest and detention.

They also asserted a "fabrication theory" regarding the HOICU’s claim that it sent a cooperation letter to the 55th Security Group of the Army Capital Defense Command, which is responsible for security outside the presidential residence, and received a reply granting permission before executing the arrest warrant.

Chairman Kwon stated, "The approval reply letter disclosed by the HOICU was a note with the security group commander’s seal glued onto the letter they sent themselves." He emphasized, "Which institution attaches a note to another institution’s official document as a reply? Just by looking at this document, it is clear that the HOICU’s claim of sending a cooperation letter and receiving a reply is a blatant lie."

He continued, "The more absurd fact is that the commander of the 505 Security Group did not have the authority to grant access to the presidential residence in the first place," adding, "Since they could not obtain access permission from the Presidential Security Service, which is the only authority with such power, they staged this national-level fraud."

Chairman Kwon said, "All actions of the HOICU have already lost legitimacy both politically and legally. The People Power Party will hold them accountable for all illegal acts committed by the HOICU so far," and warned strongly, "If illegal acts such as leaking investigation details occur in the future, we will hold them accountable to the end."

There were also criticisms likening the HOICU to the Gestapo of Nazi Germany, the KGB of the Soviet Union, and the Security Department of North Korea, calling the arrest of President Yoon a 'rule-of-law disruption.' Floor leader Kwon said, "The Democratic Party is behind this," adding, "The Lee Jae-myung faction exploited the HOICU and police as tools of purging by intimidating them amid national chaos. The HOICU, born through the Democratic Party’s ugly political backdoor dealings, has proven itself not as a Korean investigative agency but as the Democratic Party’s private army by trampling on the rule of law."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is arriving at the Gwacheon Corruption Investigation Office building on the 15th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju