"Opposition Crushed" Democratic Party Outraged as Search of Party Headquarters Resumes... Protest Rally in Front of Presidential Office

Lee Jae-myung "Morality Disappears, Only Violence Remains"...Strong Criticism of Prosecution and Ruling Party
National Assembly Audit Temporarily Postponed...Afternoon Party Meeting to Decide on Yoon's Policy Speech Boycott

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 24th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Na Ju-seok] The Democratic Party of Korea has strongly opposed the prosecution's attempt to re-conduct a search and seizure at the party headquarters. The Democratic Party postponed the final schedule of the National Assembly inspection and held a party meeting to devise countermeasures. Concerns are growing over the disappearance of public welfare as both ruling and opposition parties remain engrossed in political strife until the last day of the inspection.

On the morning of the 24th, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, received a report on the search and seizure situation at the party headquarters during the Supreme Council meeting and strongly criticized the prosecution and the ruling party, saying, "Morality has disappeared and only violence remains. Politics has vanished, and it feels like they only want to dominate."

Park Hong-geun, floor leader, also said, "Despite condemning last week's prosecution search and seizure as an act of obstructing the National Assembly inspection, they again raided the party headquarters this morning, the last day of the inspection," adding, "Before the president's policy speech, I demanded an apology from him for his words and the prosecution's search and seizure, but not even a day passed before they blatantly crushed it." He continued, "This is a thoughtless provocation causing extreme disruption ahead of tomorrow's presidential policy speech. We strongly condemn it."

This search and seizure came just five days after the attempt on the 19th. The opposition proposed a special prosecutor and demanded an apology for the search and seizure, even expressing willingness to boycott the president's policy speech, but the government and ruling party have accepted none of these. Rather, by forcibly conducting the search and seizure again after five days, the opposition's calculations have become complicated.

The Democratic Party temporarily postponed the inspection. Upon news of the prosecution's second search and seizure attempt, Floor Leader Park issued a 'party headquarters assembly order' to key party officials and members of the floor leadership. At 11:30 a.m., Democratic Party members are scheduled to hold a condemnation press conference in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the same time, they pressured the government and ruling party to place more emphasis on public welfare. Leader Lee mentioned the worsening livelihood economy and the Legoland incident, reiterating the demand for acceptance of a special prosecutor by the ruling party. He said, "Since national capabilities are already insufficient to protect livelihoods, it is not desirable to waste them on political strife. My position is to entrust the Daejang-dong case to a special prosecutor and focus on livelihoods," adding, "This has nothing to do with the First Lady Kim Geon-hee special prosecutor. If the president's 'savings bank corruption investigation leniency suspicion' is burdensome, it can be excluded."

Oh Young-hwan, Democratic Party floor spokesperson, said in a briefing that day, "We will hold a protest rally against prosecutorial dictatorship and new security governance in front of the Presidential Office, and then resume the party meeting to discuss future directions." It was reported that the afternoon party meeting would also decide whether to boycott President Yoon's National Assembly policy speech scheduled for the 25th.

In response, the ruling party pressured the opposition, saying, "Cooperate with law enforcement." After the emergency committee meeting, Jeong Jin-seok, emergency committee chairman, told reporters, "Being a party headquarters does not grant immunity from law enforcement," adding, "Stop immediately any acts that undermine the rule of law and obstruct law enforcement, and cooperate with the judicial authorities' legitimate law enforcement."

Floor Leader Joo Ho-young reiterated his refusal to accept the special prosecutor. On a radio program that morning, he said, "The policy speech is scheduled for the 25th, and the agenda has already been agreed upon and decided by the National Assembly plenary session, so it cannot be changed," demanding the opposition attend the policy speech. In response to the opposition's criticism of the economic situation, he quickly formed an internal economic special committee and said they are working with the government to devise measures regarding the Legoland incident.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly inspection, closely related to public welfare, was disrupted due to confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. The comprehensive inspections by the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee were adjourned immediately after starting, and the rest of the inspections, including the Judiciary Committee, could not even convene. As the strong confrontation over acceptance of the special prosecutor continues, the budget National Assembly, which officially begins on the 25th, is also likely to face disruptions like this.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.