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Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed support for the Innovation Committee's proposal to change the vote on the parliamentary arrest consent motion to a roll-call vote, which prompted strong opposition from the anti-Lee faction (Bi-myeong faction).

With expectations that the arrest consent motion against Lee could be put to a vote in the next extraordinary session of the National Assembly, there are concerns that a roll-call vote could serve as a means to identify members of the Bi-myeong faction. During the rejection of the arrest consent motion against Lee in February, a so-called "text bomb" campaign was launched by Lee’s hardcore supporters targeting Bi-myeong faction lawmakers.

On the 25th, Lee Won-wook, a Democratic Party lawmaker from the Bi-myeong faction, expressed displeasure over the "roll-call vote on the arrest consent motion," calling it "incitement." Through Facebook, he stated, "(The Innovation Committee) is heading toward a 'sanctuary-protecting committee' as they feared," adding, "An unrelated proposal for a roll-call vote on parliamentary immunity was oddly brought up, and as if waiting for this, the leader himself responded by saying, 'It is necessary to switch to a roll-call vote, from the perspective of responsible politics.'"

He further argued, "In short, it means knowing who supported and who opposed Lee’s parliamentary immunity," and called it "incitement to reveal names regarding arrest warrant requests against fellow lawmakers."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 17th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon pointed out that Lee’s "declaration to give up parliamentary immunity" and his "support for roll-call voting" are contradictory actions. The anonymous vote is conducted so that lawmakers can vote according to their conscience, but if a roll-call vote is held, it could lead to efforts to identify members of the Bi-myeong faction within the party.

Appearing on YTN radio that day, Cho said, "Anonymous voting under the National Assembly Act has been in place since 1952 to allow voting according to one’s conscience," adding, "If a roll-call vote is held, it will be known who supported and who opposed, and those who agreed to the arrest will be labeled as 'subak' (a slang term for Bi-myeong faction members in the Democratic Party) and subjected to concentrated attacks and campaigns for their defeat."

The move to identify dissenting votes from Lee’s hardcore supporters was also seen during the vote on the arrest consent motion in February. Initially, the Democratic Party was confident that more than 170 votes would be cast against the motion, but the motion was narrowly rejected with 139 votes in favor, 138 against, 11 invalid votes, and 9 abstentions.

Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon attended the "Democratic Party Reflection and Innovation Continuous Forum" held at the National Assembly on July 26 last year and presented on the topic "Reflection and Lessons from Five and a Half Years of Democratic Party Governance." Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

As a result, it is estimated that at least 31 dissenting votes came from within the Democratic Party, leading some of Lee’s hardcore supporters to send strong protest messages to Bi-myeong faction lawmakers or share lists of Bi-myeong faction members known as the "subak list."

On the morning of February 28, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-min appeared on YTN radio and said, "(Lee’s supporters) are sending messages like 'You are the one who voted in favor,' 'We won’t leave you alone,' and 'We will identify you,'" expressing concern that "if these things expand and reproduce, it will not be a beautiful and intense debate but could escalate into a low-level fight."

However, changing the vote on the arrest consent motion to a roll-call vote requires an amendment to the National Assembly Act. According to Article 112, Paragraph 5 of the National Assembly Act, votes on personnel matters such as arrest consent motions are conducted by secret ballot.

The Innovation Committee proposed that the Democratic Party lead the passage of a National Assembly Act amendment within the 21st National Assembly’s term to change the voting method on arrest consent motions to roll-call voting. Currently, four bills to amend the National Assembly Act to change the vote on arrest consent motions to roll-call voting are pending in the National Assembly.

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