"No Words"... Democratic Party Embarrassed by 'Shocking Yes Vote'

Lee Jae-myung Arrest Motion Rejected with 139 Votes in Favor
At Least 31 Democratic Party Lawmakers Did Not Join the Rejection Vote

The arrest motion for Representative Lee Jae-myung, which was expected to be 'overwhelmingly rejected,' surprisingly received a large number of votes in favor, leaving the Democratic Party of Korea in shock.

On the 27th, at the National Assembly plenary session, the arrest motion saw 297 out of 299 members present voting: 139 in favor, 138 against, 11 invalid, and 9 abstentions, resulting in the motion's rejection. Although the 149 votes needed to pass the arrest motion were not met, considering that all 169 Democratic Party members participated in the vote, the outcome was shocking.

Even without considering the votes of independent lawmakers who previously held Democratic Party membership, at least 31 votes did not oppose the rejection of the arrest motion.

Seol Hoon, a non-mainstream faction member who had insisted on an overwhelming rejection, said to reporters after the vote, "I have nothing to say," adding, "I did not expect this level of defections."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is seen conversing with fellow lawmakers after delivering a personal statement regarding the submission of a motion for his arrest during the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

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Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min stated on social media (SNS), "The arrest motion was rejected, but the significant number of defections leads to many concerns."

Within the Democratic Party, there was initially a clear atmosphere of not worrying about the arrest motion. The focus was more on the developments following the vote rather than the result itself. However, as a large-scale defection occurred within the party, a sense of bewilderment became evident.

Kim Byung-gi, the Democratic Party's senior deputy secretary-general, wrote on SNS, "The arrest motion against Representative Lee was rejected in the National Assembly," adding, "Despite the prosecution regime's violent acts, desperate to eliminate political opponents and mobilizing even cabinet members, it was frustrated." While seemingly evaluating the rejection of the arrest motion, he added, "We will reorganize our ranks," indicating the party's concern over the voting outcome.

Min Hyung-bae, an independent lawmaker known to be pro-Lee, posted a photo of the ballot paper that sparked controversy over invalid votes on SNS, stating, "If the invalid vote controversy was intentionally caused by a ballot that was not originally written in the member's handwriting, then that member should walk out on their own and head home."

Meanwhile, Jung Chung-rae, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, said, "The arrest motion against the representative was rejected in the National Assembly," and evaluated, "It is fortunate and natural that the National Assembly put a brake on the oppressive investigation and unreasonable arrest motion by the Yoon Seok-youl prosecutor dictatorship regime."

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