Song Young-gil, Yoon Kwan-seok, and Lee Sung-man on Re-requesting Warrants: "Prosecutors Ignoring Parliament's Decision Are Cowardly"

Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly opposed the prosecution's reissuance of arrest warrants for lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man on the 1st, stating that "it is cowardly to choose the date of the warrant request to ignore the National Assembly's decision and parliamentary immunity."

Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea [Image source=Yonhap News]

In a statement distributed through his lawyer on the 2nd, former leader Song said, "I want to ask if there has ever been a case where an arrest warrant, once rejected by the National Assembly, was reissued by avoiding the session. To my knowledge, there is no precedent."

He added, "Even military regimes did not conduct investigations this cowardly," criticizing it as "the reality of a prosecutorial dictatorship worse than a military regime."

Former leader Song stated, "The prosecution's reissuance of the warrant is not aimed at uncovering substantive truth but is a repressive request with the sole purpose of detaining the individual, essentially a manhunt," and said, "The investigative agency considers the detention of an active lawmaker itself as an achievement and acts accordingly."

He continued, "There has been no newly revealed serious charge or clear evidence admitting guilt; forcibly reissuing the arrest warrant can only be seen as the influence of the regime's power," he argued.

He also added, "For the past five months, Song Young-gil has not been summoned even once, and only those around him have been cowardly harassed," and said, "The prosecution claims there is overwhelming evidence, so instead of harassing innocent people, summon me and request the warrant."

The two lawmakers will not have parliamentary immunity guaranteed as the National Assembly session is suspended until the temporary session opens on the 16th. Accordingly, without a vote on the arrest consent bill in the National Assembly, they are scheduled to appear at the Seoul Central District Court on the 4th to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination).

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