Appeared on YouTube's 'Maebul Show' on the 5th
Unilateral Claims Without Clear Evidence
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed that the '2023 arrest consent bill approval incident' was "a scheme between some within the party and the prosecution." However, he did not present clear evidence and said, "There is no proof of collusion, just speculation."
On the 5th, Lee appeared on the YouTube broadcast 'Maebul Show' and spoke about the approval of the arrest consent bill against him in the 21st National Assembly, which was passed with the support of some Democratic Party members in the plenary session. He said, "I had heard beforehand that it would be approved." He claimed, "There is no evidence, and it is speculation, but the timeline roughly matches." At that time, the arrest consent bill against Lee was approved with 149 votes in favor, 136 against, 6 abstentions, and 4 invalid votes out of 295 votes cast. This was one vote more than the majority of members present (148 votes), which is the required quorum. Assuming that the ruling party People Power Party (110 members), Justice Party (6 members), Transition Korea (1 member), Hope of Korea (1 member), and two independent members formerly of the People Power Party (totaling 120) voted in favor as a party line before the vote, it means that 29 members from the Democratic Party and Democratic-leaning independents voted in favor. This was the first time in constitutional history that an arrest consent bill against the leader of the main opposition party was approved.
Regarding this, he said, "For example, a prominent figure within the party told me, 'You will be prosecuted, so resign as party leader. If you don't resign, something will happen, so for your own sake and the party's, step down,' and set a timing. Later, I saw that this almost coincided with the prosecution's warrant request timing." This can be interpreted as an allegation that the 'approval faction' within the party colluded with the prosecution.
Concerning the fact that many Democratic Party lawmakers who were identified as having voted in favor of the arrest consent bill were eliminated in the last general election nominations, he said, "I did not specifically remove them. If the party is used as a tool for private desires and makes secret deals with opposing parties or violent groups, what would the party become? This is the result of party members holding them accountable," completely denying the suspicion that those who approved the arrest consent bill were excluded from nominations. The claim is that party members angry about the approval excluded the approval faction from nominations.
He also stated that he will continue his 'intra-party unification efforts' by meeting with non-Lee faction figures. "The criticism of us as a one-pole system is unfair but also a reality. While the party being well-organized has its advantages, there is a valid point that diversity is lost as a side effect," he said. "We must continue to meet with the non-Lee faction, and since we are at a turning point where everyone says they will play their role, we are grateful."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
