Park Beom-gye: "Lee Jae-myung's Warrant? If the Prosecution Is Confident, Request It During the Recess"

"Lee Jae-myung's Declaration to Waive Immunity from Arrest Valid"
"Must Face Head-on Without Political Considerations"

Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, commented on the speculation that the prosecution might file an arrest warrant for party leader Lee Jae-myung in August in connection with the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case, saying, "If the prosecution is confident, they can file the warrant during the non-session period of the National Assembly."

In an interview with SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' on the 25th, Park said, "The non-session period is from the end of this month to the 15th of next month," adding, "There are speculative reports suggesting that filing the warrant during the session would cause internal division within the Democratic Party, but if the prosecution is confident, it is right to face the challenge head-on without political considerations."

Park Beom-gye, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

During the National Assembly session, if an arrest warrant is filed, it must go through a vote on the consent to arrest. However, during the non-session period, members of the National Assembly cannot exercise their immunity from arrest, so the warrant review hearing proceeds without a voting process.

Within the party, there has been speculation that since Lee Jae-myung declared the waiver of his immunity from arrest and recently Democratic Party lawmakers decided on a 'conditional waiver of immunity from arrest,' an arrest warrant could be filed during the August session. This is based on the prosecution's possible expectation of internal conflict during the consent to arrest vote.

Park's remarks are interpreted to mean that if the prosecution has no political intentions, they should file the arrest warrant during the non-session period.

When asked, "What choice should the Democratic Party make if a consent to arrest motion is submitted during the session?" Park replied, "The important issue is how much has been substantiated and whether the conditions for filing the warrant have been met," adding, "Considering the serious damage and contamination to the evidentiary value of the so-called retracted testimony of former Gyeonggi Province Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, I wonder if filing the warrant would be that easy."

He also said, "Regardless of the vote on the consent to arrest, the declaration by party leader Lee Jae-myung to waive his immunity from arrest remains valid."

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