Today, Vote on Arrest Motion for Lee Jae-myung in National Assembly... Focus on Han Dong-hoon's Remarks

The vote on the arrest motion for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been indicted on allegations of corruption related to the Wirye and Daejang-dong development projects, will take place today (27th) in the National Assembly. Before the vote, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon and Lee will speak before the members of the National Assembly. Minister Han will argue for the necessity of passing the arrest motion, while Lee will advocate for its rejection. Particular attention is being paid to whether Minister Han will reveal key evidence.

According to political and legal circles, the National Assembly will hold a plenary session today to vote on Lee’s arrest motion. Minister Han’s remarks are highly anticipated. When the arrest motion for Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae was voted on last December, Minister Han appeared before the Assembly to detail the prosecution’s investigation and charges, emphasizing the need for approval. He also mentioned key evidence, which sparked controversy in political circles. Roh’s arrest motion was ultimately rejected. Minister Han later stated, "My explanation was insufficient."

Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice
Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Minister Han is expected to disclose detailed charges and evidence regarding Lee’s arrest motion this time as well. Before appearing at the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 23rd, he responded to lawmaker Park Beom-gye’s remark, "Don’t explain like a prosecutor before the arrest motion vote," by saying, "I take that as a well-intentioned comment," and added, "However, I find it hard to agree with the implication that since it will be rejected anyway, I should not exert effort and just do it roughly. I am a public official paid by taxpayers and intend to fulfill my duties as such."

Minister Han exceeded the record longest explanation time of 5 minutes and 30 seconds when explaining the arrest motion for lawmaker Roh. Compared to Roh’s case, Lee’s charges are more complex and involve multiple individuals, so it is expected that more time will be devoted. In particular, as Minister Han has repeatedly emphasized, he is likely to stress that the Wirye and Daejang-dong cases represent typical "local corruption."

Lee is accused of causing a loss of 489.5 billion won to the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation by designing a business structure favorable to private contractors during the Daejang-dong development project while serving as mayor of Seongnam (breach of trust). He is also charged with leaking official secrets from Seongnam City or the corporation through close aides, enabling private contractors to gain a total profit of 788.6 billion won (violation of the Public Official Conflict of Interest Prevention Act).

The arrest warrant also lists charges of violating the Anti-Corruption Act related to the Wirye New Town development project and third-party bribery related to sponsorship of Seongnam FC.

The prosecution maintains that there is sufficient evidence to prove the charges against Lee. They believe that combining testimonies from related parties, internal reports created at the time, and the progress of the project reveals Lee as the mastermind behind the allegations.

On the other hand, Lee argues that the prosecution is conducting an unreasonable investigation based solely on circumstantial evidence and expert testimony without direct physical evidence. He claims the Daejang-dong project is a model case where the city used its licensing authority to recoup private profits, and that any misconduct such as bribery by subordinate employees is unrelated to him.

However, political circles largely predict that Lee’s arrest motion will be rejected. Since the Democratic Party holds a majority of seats and recent "appeal operations" by Lee have strengthened internal unity, it is analyzed that there will be few dissenting votes.

If the arrest motion is rejected, the prosecution is expected to indict Lee without detention, without filing additional arrest warrants.

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