Opposition's 'Waiver of Immunity from Arrest' Internal Controversy Continues... Ruling Party Says "Repeated False Promises"

Democratic Party: "If a National Declaration is Made, Clearly Announce Withdrawal"
Discussion to Continue at the Parliamentary Meeting on the 30th

The Democratic Party of Korea has stated that it will not reject the arrest consent bill of its members as a party stance despite the demands of the Innovation Committee, prompting the People Power Party to escalate pressure by raising the 'Innovation Committee Straw Man Theory.' The Democratic Party maintains that parliamentary immunity is a constitutional right of individual members, so it intends to gather consensus, but whether this will be possible remains uncertain.

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, criticized on the 27th, "The so-called ‘Kim Eun-kyung Innovation Committee,’ which started with the aim of reforming the Democratic Party, was just a straw man for show to the outside as expected," adding, "Even the first innovation proposal to give up parliamentary immunity was not enforced and was quietly dropped."

He continued, "If they declared to the public that they would give up parliamentary immunity, they should have simply signed the renunciation, but I don’t understand why this is such a petty and difficult matter."

Democratic Party Innovation Committee spokespersons Yoon Hyung-jung and Kim Nam-hee are briefing the results of the Innovation Committee's 2nd meeting at the National Assembly Communication Hall on the afternoon of the 23rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

This criticism came after the Democratic Party decided not to convene an extraordinary session to reject the arrest consent bill of its members and stated that it would not reject the bill as a party stance even during the session.

Kang Min-guk, the People Power Party floor spokesperson, said in a statement that day, "The previous votes on the arrest consent bills for lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man were also left to free voting, but weren’t they rejected? It’s just pretending not to see the truth, but the conclusion is no different from saying they will not give up parliamentary immunity."

The Democratic Party plans to continue related discussions at a members' meeting on the 30th. Since the party leadership cannot force members to give up their constitutional rights, a persuasion process within the party seems necessary.

Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok said in an interview with BBS Radio's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' that "At least, under the premise that we should have relative moral superiority over the People Power Party, we should follow the Innovation Committee’s decision," but also expressed personal concerns about the Innovation Committee’s demand to give up parliamentary immunity, saying, "They will all end up going to prison one after another."

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Jae-soo also said that public opinion demanding the renunciation of parliamentary immunity should be followed but pointed out that fairness in the prosecution’s investigation is not guaranteed.

Jeon appeared on YTN's 'News & Issue' in the afternoon and said, "Parliamentary immunity is a constitutional right of lawmakers, but the public demands that this privilege be relinquished because the political world has brought this upon itself, so it should be done."

However, Jeon criticized, "Look at the prosecution’s investigation behavior. If there is suspicion of a crime, they should investigate everything, conduct searches and seizures, and if necessary, issue arrest and detention warrants. But have you seen any news about People Power Party politicians being subjected to searches and seizures?"

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