People Power Party: "Lee Jae-myung's Proposal to Switch Arrest Consent to Roll-Call Vote Is a Trick for Self-Protection"

Yoon Jae-ok "Purpose to Prevent Defection"
Park Dae-chul "Sounds Like Nomination Threat"

The People Power Party criticized Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, for suggesting changing the voting method on the National Assembly’s arrest consent motion from anonymous to open voting, calling it a ‘shielding trick.’ They pointed out that this behavior aims to prevent dissenting votes by blocking conscience voting.

On the 25th, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly, "The Democratic Party is advocating for changing the voting method on the arrest consent motion to open voting. Although they present it under the plausible pretext of implementing responsible politics, when you consider why now, there is only one answer," adding, "They are afraid that an arrest warrant for their party leader will be requested again, so they want to create a mechanism to monitor lawmakers’ votes to prevent dissenting votes from the opposition."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Floor leader Yoon said, "Currently, many Democratic Party lawmakers are afraid of being labeled as ‘subak’ (a politician who is different on the outside and inside, usually referring to non-mainstream lawmakers) by their hardline supporters and being publicly shamed, so they cannot speak out," and added, "Although they disguised it as accepting the Innovation Committee’s opinion, changing the arrest consent vote to open voting at this timing is actually an inappropriate act that marks opposition lawmakers for hardline supporters, blocking conscience voting and causing regression in democracy. Seeing the Democratic Party abandon their campaign pledge to give up immunity from arrest like a discarded item and repeatedly holding shielding National Assembly sessions, the public is now at a point where they cannot trust anything the Democratic Party says."

He continued, "The Democratic Party should stop deceiving the public with the phrase ‘responsible politics’ and sincerely fulfill their promise to give up immunity from arrest."

The Democratic Party Innovation Committee announced an innovation plan on the 21st to change the voting method on the arrest consent motion from anonymous to open voting. Kim Eun-kyung, chairwoman of the Innovation Committee, said at a press briefing held at the National Assembly, "This can make lawmakers more accountable for handling arrest consent motions and is information that should be disclosed to guarantee the public’s right to know," emphasizing, "The Democratic Party should lead the legislative amendment within the 21st National Assembly’s term." Regarding this, after the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council meeting the previous day, leader Lee said to reporters, "(Changing to open voting) is a legislative matter, and it is necessary to declare open voting early," adding, "From the perspective of responsible politics, it is necessary to take responsibility for the voting results."

Park Dae-chul, policy chief of the People Power Party, criticized, "They wrapped it in responsible politics, but in reality, it is just a shielding trick." He questioned, "Wouldn’t lawmakers perceive it as a nomination threat?" and asked, "Are they afraid that the arrest consent motion will come up again?" He added, "Despite all the persuasion and pressure, the truth of Lee Jae-myung’s judicial risks cannot be hidden."

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