Prosecutors 'Ambush' Half-Month Gap in August National Assembly... 'Caught Off Guard' Lawmakers Protest "Unconstitutional Trick Warrant" (Comprehensive)

Temporary August National Assembly from the 16th of this month
Warrant review without vote on parliamentary arrest consent
Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man express opposition through statements

On the 1st, the prosecution investigating the Democratic Party of Korea's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Suspicion' refiled arrest warrants for independent lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, who strongly opposed the move. This comes about seven weeks after the first arrest warrants were automatically dismissed following the National Assembly's rejection of the arrest consent motion in June. Since the temporary National Assembly session will open on the 16th of this month, this time the suspects will undergo a pre-arrest hearing (warrant examination) without a vote on the arrest consent motion in the National Assembly.

In a statement released that day, Representative Yoon said, "The prosecution has unprecedentedly politically exploited the National Assembly recess to file an unjust arrest warrant that violates the principle of separation of powers, a fundamental order of democracy," and emphasized, "I will firmly fight against the prosecution's unconstitutional, politically retaliatory, and irregular reapplication for an arrest warrant."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "Even as a member of the National Assembly, as a citizen of the Republic of Korea, the right to defense in criminal procedures and the principle of non-custodial investigation must be guaranteed," and added, "I earnestly request the court's wise judgment on the prosecution's unconstitutional trick warrant that disregards the democratic procedures of the National Assembly."

Representative Lee also issued a statement on the same day, protesting, "This sudden reapplication for a warrant is a clear political act that completely ignores the National Assembly's resolution." He pointed out, "The prosecution, as a judicial institution, denies the authority of the National Assembly and flaunts that they possess absolute power beyond the Constitution," and criticized, "Attempting to arrest a member of the National Assembly without the Assembly's consent is an abuse of prosecutorial power to block the legislative activities of a representative of local residents and to protect a specific political faction."

He added, "As a member of the public, I feel devastated by the persistent attacks on the opposition party," and said, "I feel anger as a citizen at the political prosecution's behavior that insults the National Assembly, the representative institution of the people, and leads efforts for a specific political faction."

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul), which is investigating this case, filed arrest warrants against Representative Lee and Representative Yoon Kwan-seok on charges of violating the Political Parties Act. A prosecution official stated, "Regardless of the National Assembly session, sufficient evidence reinforcement has been made through the arrest investigation of Park, a key accomplice and a former aide to a certain lawmaker, enabling the decision to refile the warrants at this point."

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