Cho Eung-cheon: "The ruling party might think it's better for Lee Jae-myung's warrant to be on the Chuseok table"

"Boycott of Arrest Bill? Will the Plenary Session Not Be Held Until the End of the Term?"

Cho Eung-cheon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 22nd regarding the timing of the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant related to Lee Jae-myung's 'Baekhyeon-dong development preferential treatment suspicion,' "As soon as I heard that the Baekhyeon-dong case was moving, I thought it was obvious that it would be merged with the (North Korea remittance suspicion)." He added, "From a political judgment perspective, the People Power Party would think that it is best if the conclusion of Lee's arrest warrant does not come out by the Chuseok holiday."

Cho had previously predicted several times that Lee would face an arrest warrant request in September. Regarding this, Cho explained on YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' on the same day, "I said that because the prosecution should not make such (political) judgments."

Regarding the pro-Lee faction's proposal to boycott the motion to consent to Lee's arrest, he criticized, "Even now, the stigma of being a 'bulletproof party' has become one of the major factors lowering public trust in our party. If we proceed like this, how will the public view us? The public's patience has already run out."

Cho Eung-cheon, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Cho explained, "According to Article 26 of the National Assembly Act, the motion to consent to arrest must be voted on within 72 hours after its first report to the plenary session, and if not voted on, it must be voted on again at the next plenary session. Even if boycotted, this will continue to be submitted until the end of the 21st National Assembly." He continued, "So, if the magazine is loaded but the trigger is not pulled, it has to be fired at some point. Are they going to avoid it until the end of the 21st National Assembly? Then will the plenary session not be held? This is practically impossible," he pointed out.

He added, "Since Lee said he would 'go out confidently,' he should request approval through a personal statement, and the members can decide by free vote."

Regarding the rumor of Lee's nomination while in prison, he said, "The representative does not decide alone; there is the Supreme Council, right? It should be decided together." Cho said, "They say that Lee Jae-myung's leadership is the only leadership and that there is no alternative to Lee Jae-myung, but I do not agree. If you keep saying that even though we are the first party with 167 seats, it means the Democratic Party is admitting to being Lee Jae-myung's private party."

He also added, "If the representative who presides over meetings and makes decisions is not free, I want to ask if that is a situation where the representative position can be maintained."

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