Lee Jae-myung's Renunciation of Immunity from Arrest... "Very Jaemyung-like" vs "Determination to Face Barehanded"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced in his parliamentary negotiation group representative speech that he would "give up immunity from arrest," which drew sharply divided reactions from the ruling and opposition parties. While the ruling party doubted his sincerity, the opposition praised it as a "will to face it bare-handed."

On the 19th, Park Dae-chul, Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, raised his voice in criticism through his social media, saying, "After blocking the arrest consent bill, now he says he will give up immunity from arrest. Truly, this is so typical of Jae-myung."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On that day, in his negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly, Lee said, "I will give up my immunity from arrest regarding political investigations against me. As I have done so far, if summoned, I will respond not just 10 times but 100 times." This appears to be an effort to break through the solidifying 'bulletproof frame' following the rejection of arrest consent bills for Representative Roh Woong-rae, Lee himself, and Democratic Party members Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man.

However, the ruling party's response was cold. Kim Woong, a People Power Party lawmaker, said on social media, "Lee's declaration to give up immunity from arrest is meaningless for three reasons. First, the person who said it is Lee himself." He added, "During the presidential campaign, Lee promised to give up immunity from arrest. But when an arrest warrant was actually requested against him, he immediately changed his words and used parliamentary privileges to avoid detention." Kim also mentioned other reasons, including that "it is advantageous for Lee to avoid a vote because the arrest consent bill is likely to pass," and "the criminal charges in future arrest warrants are relatively weak."

Cho Soo-jin, a senior member of the People Power Party, shared a past article where Lee hinted at 'immunity from arrest cannot be given up,' sarcastically commenting, "It changes depending on the situation."

Kim Geun-sik, former head of the People Power Party's Vision and Strategy Office, also wrote on social media, "Who would believe the lies of a boy who cried wolf? Lee already declared giving up immunity from arrest as a campaign pledge during his presidential candidacy and confirmed it multiple times to reporters." He criticized, "Yet when arrest warrants were requested for bribery charges related to Daejang-dong and Seongnam FC, he called it absurd prosecutorial fiction and acted bulletproof."

The opposition praised Lee's statement as a "declaration of will." Jung Chung-rae, senior member of the Democratic Party, wrote on social media, "Lee declared giving up immunity from arrest. I opposed and discouraged it. But his will to face the Yoon Seok-yeol prosecutor dictatorship bare-handed was so strong." He added, "The risk of internal party division was also considered. I wish him good fortune in battle. Overcome oppression and division and achieve certain victory."

Kim Won-i, Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "This is the firm will of our party leader to fight alone and with his whole body against the Yoon Seok-yeol prosecutor dictatorship," and "Democratic Party supporters and members pledge to definitely protect Leader Lee Jae-myung." Lee Dong-hak, former senior member of the Democratic Party, also supported by sharing an article about Lee's declaration to give up immunity from arrest.

Lee Nae-kyung, chairman of Other Hundred Years who stepped down from the Innovation Committee chairmanship amid controversies such as the 'Cheonan ship self-destruction theory,' shared a related video link on his social media, saying, "What more can be added here?"

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