Cracked National Assembly Majority... Will the Prosecution Pursue a 'Third Round' of Arrest Warrants?

Will the prosecution's request for arrest warrants targeting lawmakers with immunity from arrest reach a 'third round'?

On the 1st, political and legal circles are closely watching the prosecution's next move after the arrest consent motion for Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea was rejected at the National Assembly plenary session on the 27th of last month. The prosecution is reportedly strengthening its investigation into all allegations related to Lee and keeping all options open, including indictment and reapplication for arrest warrants.

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

According to a summary of insiders' forecasts, if the prosecution reissues an arrest warrant for Lee, the target cases are expected to change. Instead of the Wirye and Daejang-dong development corruption and Seongnam FC sponsorship cases for which the warrant was previously requested, it is highly likely to be the North Korea remittance and Baekhyeon-dong suspicion cases, which the prosecution is currently accelerating its investigation on.

Regarding the North Korea remittance case, former Ssangbangwool chairman Kim Sung-tae repeatedly testified that he had phone calls with Lee and that Lee was aware of sending money to the North to support Gyeonggi Province's North Korea projects, which has strengthened the investigation. In the Baekhyeon-dong case, the prosecution is confirming facts by summoning Seongnam city officials responsible for the project after a large-scale seizure search. Lee is even registered as a suspect in the Baekhyeon-dong case. Additionally, the Jeongja-dong development corruption allegations under investigation by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam branch could also be included in the arrest warrant request depending on the investigation progress.

If the arrest warrant is reissued, the National Assembly will have to vote on the arrest consent motion for the sixth time in the 21st National Assembly. Previously, the motions for former Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Jeong-sun, former independent lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, and People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Chan-min were approved, but the motions for Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae on December 28 last year and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung on the 27th of last month were rejected. Therefore, if the prosecution requests again this time, it strongly reflects the prosecution's attempt at a 'third round' after being blocked by the rejections of Roh and Lee.

Especially during the vote on Lee's arrest consent motion, a division within the Democratic Party, which holds the majority seats, was sensed, increasing the possibility of the prosecution reapplying for an arrest warrant. Lee's arrest consent motion was narrowly rejected with 139 votes in favor, 138 against, 9 abstentions, and 11 invalid votes. This was because it failed to secure the majority of over 150 votes out of 299 total members. Since the number of votes in favor exceeded those against, it is analyzed that a considerable number of Democratic Party lawmakers voted in favor of the arrest consent motion.

The Wirye and Daejang-dong development corruption cases, for which the arrest warrants were blocked, are expected to proceed to indictment. The prosecution is currently conducting remaining investigations into allegations such as the '4.28 billion KRW dividend profit agreement' in the Daejang-dong case. Although former Democratic Party Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-sang, who is linked to Lee and the allegations, was first arrested and indicted, he firmly denies the charges and remains silent about his connection to Lee. The prosecution is reportedly attempting to prove Lee's charges through other means. Consequently, related charges (bribery after fraudulent acts) were omitted from the current arrest warrant request, and the prosecution is expected to decide on reapplying for an arrest warrant and indictment after further review.

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