Unprecedented Arrest Warrant for Opposition Leader... Opposition Holds Large-Scale Protest Rally in Response

Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Representative Lee Jae-myung
Democratic Party to Hold Rally Against Prosecutorial Dictatorship at National Assembly on 17th
Discuss Response Measures Including Arrest Consent Proposal at Party Meeting

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Park Joon-yi] Facing an unprecedented historical situation with the request for an arrest warrant for the party leader, the Democratic Party of Korea is mobilizing incumbent lawmakers and regional committee heads to hold a condemnation rally at the National Assembly. Internal discussions on responding to the parliamentary consent for arrest motion against Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung are expected to take place mainly at next week's party caucus meetings.

On the 16th, the Democratic Party held an emergency Supreme Council meeting to discuss follow-up measures in response to the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant against Lee.

First, the Democratic Party will hold a rally condemning prosecutorial dictatorship at the National Assembly on the morning of the 17th. Park Sung-jun, the Democratic Party spokesperson, explained, "A meeting of regional committee chairpersons nationwide has been convened at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow," adding, "Regional committee chairpersons, non-incumbent committee heads, and incumbent lawmakers will meet in the large conference room of the Members' Office Building at 10:30 a.m., followed by a rally condemning the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's prosecutorial dictatorship at 11:30 a.m." The condemnation rally, held on the main building stairs of the National Assembly, is expected to be large-scale with the participation of metropolitan and local lawmakers and aides.

For now, no schedules for street protests have been set.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The focus of attention is expected to shift to the National Assembly. Since the arrest warrant was issued for an incumbent lawmaker during the session, the consent for arrest motion will be submitted to the National Assembly after approval by the court and the president.

Regarding this, spokesperson Park said, "We will talk about the unfairness of the arrest warrant request over the weekend today and tomorrow, and I think a party caucus meeting will be held sometime next week." It is anticipated that before the caucus, Lee will convey his position in the form of a letter and then attend the caucus to express his stance.

Discussions on whether to adopt a party stance on the consent for arrest motion are expected to emerge from the caucus. Within the party, there are concerns that adopting a party stance in a secret ballot vote could cause further discord. Kim Nam-guk, the Democratic Party deputy secretary-general, said on SBS Radio's Kim Tae-hyun News Show the day before, "It is difficult to force the rejection of the consent for arrest motion as a party stance," adding, "Rather, setting this as a party stance itself is difficult, with only side effects and no effectiveness."

However, there are also voices calling for Lee to undergo a substantive warrant hearing.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-min predicted on KBS Radio's Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current that the consent for arrest motion vote is likely to be rejected. Lee mentioned the prosecution's investigative methods and media manipulation, and referring to Lee Jae-myung's past advocacy for the abolition of immunity from arrest, he said, "Rather than going through the current legal procedure of passing the consent for arrest motion, it would be cleaner for Lee to go directly to the court for a warrant hearing, like People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong," adding, "Whether it is appropriate to request this from Lee should be discussed within the party."

Former Democratic Party emergency committee chairperson Park Ji-hyun also advised via social media, "As promised during the presidential election, all Democratic Party lawmakers should strongly be instructed to give their consent votes in the consent for arrest motion by waiving immunity from arrest." Park predicted, "If the consent for arrest motion is rejected, the prosecution will indict without detention," and warned, "The vicious cycle of fake news, separate warrant requests, disclosure of suspect facts, and rejection of the consent for arrest motion will continue. It will leave the Democratic Party and leader Lee Jae-myung in tatters." She added, "If the court dismisses the warrant, the investigation cannot proceed further," and said, "What they want is the rejection of the consent for arrest motion, not the actual arrest of Lee Jae-myung."

Separately from the consent for arrest motion, with Lee's indictment becoming inevitable, discussions on Article 80 of the Democratic Party's party constitution, which stipulates resignation from party positions upon indictment, are also expected to surface. Within the Democratic Party, opinions range from calls for Lee to step down if indicted to arguments that the party affairs committee should make the decision.

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