'Lee Jae-myung Arrest Motion' Reported to National Assembly Plenary Session... Vote Scheduled for 27th Plenary Session

Vote on the 27th, Lee Jae-myung's Personal Remarks Scheduled
Democratic Party Defection Votes Key, Leadership Emphasizes 'Rejection'

The arrest warrant request for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was charged with bribery related to the Daejang-dong development and allegations of sponsorship funds for Seongnam FC, was reported to the National Assembly plenary session on the 24th. The vote is scheduled to take place at the plenary session on the 27th.

On this day, the National Assembly held a plenary session and announced, "The arrest warrant request for National Assembly member Lee Jae-myung was received on February 21." The arrest warrant request must be put to a vote no earlier than 24 hours and no later than 72 hours after being reported. If the vote is not held within this period, it will be submitted and voted on at the next plenary session.

The decision on whether to process the arrest warrant request is expected to be made at the plenary session scheduled for the 27th. At this session, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon will explain the reasons for requesting the arrest warrant, and Lee Jae-myung will deliver a personal statement rebutting the request. Afterwards, a secret ballot vote will be conducted.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the prosecution filed an arrest warrant for Lee on the 16th, and the court sent a request for consent to arrest to the prosecution the following day. Subsequently, the Ministry of Justice, after obtaining approval from President Yoon Suk-yeol, forwarded the request to the National Assembly.

The arrest warrant request is approved if a majority of the total members are present and a majority of those present vote in favor. Afterward, the court sets a date for the pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review). If the arrest warrant request is rejected, the warrant is dismissed.

Until the plenary session on the 27th, a dispute between the two major parties over approval or rejection is expected in the National Assembly. Currently, the Democratic Party holds 169 seats, which is sufficient to reject the request on its own. However, if there are dissenting votes among Democratic and independent members, approval cannot be completely ruled out. Earlier, the party leadership judged at the party caucus on the 21st that the consensus was to 'reject' and decided to proceed with a free vote.

In the 21st National Assembly, arrest warrant requests for lawmakers Jeong Jeong-sun (Democratic Party), Lee Sang-jik (Independent), and Jeong Chan-min (People Power Party) were approved, but the arrest warrant request for Democratic Party lawmaker Noh Woong-rae was rejected at the plenary session on December 28 last year.

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