Ahead of Lee Jae-myung's Prosecutor Appearance... Tension Looms Over the Democratic Party

August or September... Timing of National Assembly Vote Also a Variable
Cry "Lee's Judicial Risk Has Nothing to Do with the Party... Must Escape"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is scheduled to appear before the prosecution on the 17th regarding allegations of preferential treatment in the Baekhyeon-dong development, and the perspectives within the Democratic Party on his actions are becoming increasingly complex. Although this is an issue that concerns the political fate of the party leader himself, for individual lawmakers, it is also a political matter related to the pros and cons surrounding the general election on April 10 next year.

At the end of June, Lee declared the waiver of parliamentary immunity in his negotiation group leader’s speech, choosing to confront the judicial risk head-on. However, since a motion for arrest consent must go through a plenary vote once it reaches the National Assembly, there is concern that controversy over a "shielding parliament" may resurface during this process.

Therefore, the timing of when the prosecution sends the motion for arrest consent to the National Assembly has also become important.

Seol Joo-wan, vice chairman of the Democratic Party’s Legal Committee, appeared on SBS Radio’s "Kim Tae-hyun’s Political Show" on the same day and said, "If it is done during the regular session of the National Assembly, I think it might actually encourage Democratic Party lawmakers to approve it. Or even as a party stance, I believe it is right to trust and have confidence in Leader Lee Jae-myung on this matter."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Since Lee publicly declared the waiver of parliamentary immunity, the motion for arrest consent is likely to be approved. However, factional conflicts surrounding Lee’s position may arise again during this process.

Lee Sang-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker from the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction, stated, "The judicial risk of Leader Lee Jae-myung has nothing to do with the Democratic Party," emphasizing, "This is related to when he was mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province, so he should respond to it himself and prove his innocence. The party should not get dragged into this."

On KBS Radio’s "Choi Kyung-young’s Strong Current Affairs" on the same day, Lee criticized, "Whether we like it or not, a negative image of the party being a shield for Leader Lee has already been widely attached. One way to try to shed that image even now was my call for Leader Lee to resign from his position, but he is not willing to listen to that at all, which is very frustrating."

However, there is also a cautious view that it is not yet appropriate to discuss Lee’s resignation. Jeon Hae-cheol, a Democratic Party lawmaker, appeared on SBS Radio and said, "When I met many people last weekend, there was a great deal of concern about the Yoon Seok-youl administration’s reckless governance," emphasizing, "The Democratic Party must correct that and offer hopeful politics to the people."

He added, "If there are obstacles to doing that, they should be corrected and rebuilt, but now is not the right time to talk about Leader Lee’s position."

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