Lee Jae-myung on Absentee Votes Against Arrest: "More Communication Within the Party"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 27th at the National Assembly plenary session regarding the rejection of the motion for his arrest, "I will communicate more within the party, gather many opinions, and unite our strength to fight against the prosecutorial dictatorship of the Yoon Seok-yeol authoritarian regime."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is moving to vote on the arrest warrant against him at the 8th plenary session of the 403rd National Assembly (extraordinary session) held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

After the agenda was processed at the National Assembly plenary session that afternoon, Lee told reporters, "The National Assembly, the hall of public opinion, confirmed that the prosecution's warrant request was very unjust."

He added, "I urge the Yoon Seok-yeol administration to use the energy spent on eliminating political opponents, suppressing the opposition party, and erasing the previous administration more on improving people's livelihoods and revitalizing the economy," and pointed out, "Isn't life too difficult to engage in political strife over such matters?"

However, Lee left without answering questions such as "Did you expect many dissenting votes?", "What do you think about the non-Lee Jae-myung faction demanding a statement on your position?", and "How do you respond to the criticism that dissenting votes imply veto?"

Meanwhile, the vote on the motion for the arrest of the leader of the main opposition party, the first in constitutional history, resulted in 139 votes in favor, 138 against, 9 abstentions, and 1 invalid vote out of 297 members present. Contrary to the Democratic Party's expectation of an 'overwhelming rejection,' the vote was a 'narrow' rejection, falling 10 votes short of the required majority for approval.

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