Aftermath of No Woong-rae... Ruling and Opposition Clash Over "Han Dong-hoon Blame"

Aftermath of No Woong-rae's Arrest Consent Proposal
Opposition: "Han Dong-hoon May Have Aimed for Rejection by Revealing Specific Accusations"

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Kim Young-won] After the arrest motion against Rep. No Woong-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea was rejected in the National Assembly plenary session, a backlash is underway. The ruling party claimed that the Democratic Party would keep the National Assembly open year-round to prevent the arrest of Representative Lee Jae-myung by blocking the motion. The opposition party argued that Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon unusually disclosed detailed facts about the suspect during the explanation of the arrest motion to induce its rejection.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 29th, Chung Jin-seok, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, said at an emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly, "The Democratic Party conducted a rehearsal in the National Assembly to shield Representative Lee. They rejected the arrest motion against Rep. No," adding, "The Democratic Party plans to keep the National Assembly open all year and reject any arrest motion against Representative Lee whenever it comes to the Assembly."

Following this, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, who spoke publicly, said, "The rejection of the arrest motion is the first occurrence in the 21st National Assembly," and mentioned, "According to the report from the Minister of Justice, the case against Rep. No was the most clearly evidenced bribery case." He continued, "The Democratic Party's unanimous vote of over 160 to reject is widely seen as a rehearsal to preemptively block a possible arrest motion against their party leader," and added, "After the temporary session ends on the 8th of next month, they may request another temporary session to convene a shielded National Assembly." Floor leader Joo said, "Although the National Assembly is supposed to be in permanent session, the National Assembly Act intends for it not to convene in January and July," and concluded, "We will watch how the Democratic Party acts."

The Democratic Party, which is evaluated to have rejected the arrest motion against Rep. No, remained reserved in comments but suggested the possibility that Minister Han provoked the Democratic Party. Park Chan-dae, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party, appeared on MBC Radio’s ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus’ and said, "Minister Han, in his explanatory proposal, went beyond simply explaining the purpose of the procedure and brought up very specific details that were never presented during Rep. No’s investigation, including evidence never asked of Rep. No," adding, "I strongly felt that he did this to increase public dislike and prevent the motion from passing."

Democratic Party Rep. Kim Young-bae also made similar remarks on KBS’s ‘Choi Kyung-young’s Strong Current Affairs.’ Rep. Kim said, "It was very unusual to disclose detailed facts about the suspect," and conveyed the atmosphere, "Members felt as if the Minister of Justice came not as a minister but as a prosecutor, provoking the National Assembly."

In fact, Minister Han, during the explanation of the arrest motion the previous day, mentioned specific charges and related evidence in detail instead of briefly introducing the violated laws and procedures. During this process, Minister Han said, "There is an audio recording capturing Rep. No receiving money after a request," and added, "In over 20 years of handling major anti-corruption investigations, I have never seen a case where the act of exchanging illicit money was recorded so vividly."

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