Lee Jae-myung Arrest Motion Rejected... Ruling Party: "Effectively Passed, Lee's Political Death Sentence"

Motion to Arrest Lee Jae-myung Rejected by 139 to 138 Votes
Jung Jin-seok, People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman, Says "Lee Jae-myung Faces Political Death Sentence"

The People Power Party harshly criticized the rejection of the arrest motion against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 27th, calling it a "day of disgrace for the National Assembly" and a "bulletproof day."

Park Jeong-ha, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, commented immediately after the rejection of the arrest motion, saying, "The Democratic Party, relying on its majority seats, ultimately denied the rule of law, which is the foundation of democracy," and added, "Today will be recorded as a day of disgrace in the history of the National Assembly." In the plenary session of the National Assembly that day, the arrest motion against Lee was finally rejected with 139 votes in favor, 138 against, 11 invalid, and 9 abstentions out of 297 members present.

Assemblyman Kwon Seong-dong also posted on Facebook, "From now on, February 27 should be called the National Assembly's 'Bulletproof Day,'" and criticized, "It is a self-issued pardon for the party leader's criminal charges and simultaneously a denial of his past stance to abolish the immunity from arrest. Although he narrowly succeeded in being bulletproof, this is also the beginning of his downfall."

Although the arrest motion was rejected because the affirmative votes did not exceed the majority, there was an interpretation that it was a "de facto approval" since the number of votes in favor was higher than those against. Emergency Response Committee Chairman Jeong Jin-seok told reporters outside the meeting room, "The number of votes in favor was greater than those against," and said, "It was rejected because it requires a majority to pass, but the arrest motion has effectively been processed. It is a political death sentence for the Democratic Party leader."

Jin Jeong-seok, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is talking with fellow lawmakers at the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young also pointed out on Facebook, "There were as many as 37 defections from the Democratic Party in the National Assembly vote on the Lee Jae-myung arrest motion," and said, "Although the motion was rejected because the number of votes in favor fell short of the majority by 10 due to many invalid and abstention votes, today's result is no different from the political death sentence that sensible citizens have passed on Lee Jae-myung." Fellow party member Hwang Bo Seung-hee also wrote on Facebook, "Although it was rejected because it did not exceed the majority of 149 votes, 139 votes is a very meaningful number."

People Power Party leadership candidates also issued messages in unison regarding the rejection of the arrest motion against Lee. Candidate Kim Ki-hyun said, "Although the arrest motion was formally rejected because the votes in favor did not exceed the majority, it has effectively already been a dismissal," and stated, "Today's vote will be recorded as the most shameful case of abuse of immunity from arrest in history."

Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo also met with reporters at the National Assembly after the plenary vote and said, "If he claims to be innocent, he should properly appear in court and undergo a warrant review," adding, "I believe that immunity from arrest is an outdated relic and that lawmakers should no longer receive such privileges."

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