Kim Jae-won: "Lee Jae-myung is a political genius... Employing the best possible defense strategy"

"Hunger strike may end due to arrest"
"Pro-Lee Jae-myung faction might forcibly take Lee Jae-myung to hospital"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, declared a hunger strike on the occasion of his first anniversary in office, citing reasons such as opposition to the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima. Meanwhile, Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, analyzed that Lee chose the hunger strike as a form of self-defense against the prosecution's investigation, calling him a "political genius."

On the 1st, during KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' Supreme Council Member Kim said, "In this situation, he employed the best defense he could muster. Moreover, he chose to do such a hunger strike just on his first anniversary in office."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He explained, "When a hunger strike occurs at this time, the first problem is that the prosecution becomes very embarrassed. They cannot forcibly take away someone who is on a hunger strike," adding, "Secondly, if they try to request an arrest warrant, they will argue, 'Why arrest without investigation? This interferes with the suspect's right to testify.'"

He also analyzed that the possibility of the arrest motion being rejected has increased. Supreme Council Member Kim said, "Among the lawmakers, many who think that Leader Lee is ruining the party tend to show some leniency," and added, "So if an arrest motion comes up, there is a possibility it might be rejected rather than approved."

The longer the hunger strike lasts, the more political time is gained. Kim explained, "There was once a lawmaker who did a Castella cake hunger strike, but he was caught because crumbs stuck to his beard. However, if done carefully and prolonged, the hunger strike period can be extended," and continued, "If this political period is dragged out until the end of the regular session, there is even a possibility of a prison nomination."

He added, "Considering all these political possibilities, Leader Lee has made a very good move," but added, "However, in the end, he cannot win against judicial justice."

Ultimately, the prosecution may request an arrest warrant, bringing the hunger strike to an end. He said, "The wife of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk had her arrest warrant requested without investigation as the statute of limitations was approaching, which was heavily criticized," and added, "Eventually, when Leader Lee's criminal acts are revealed in other ways and the prosecution has no choice but to request an arrest warrant, the case can be resolved by detention through the warrant request."

Referring to his experience in stopping a hunger strike by Lee Jung-hyun, then leader of the Saenuri Party in 2016, he said, "Back then, the political secretary forcibly took the party leader to the hospital to stop the hunger strike because the party needed to function. Probably, after some time, pro-Lee faction lawmakers within the party might forcibly take Leader Lee to the hospital in a similar manner," and added, "The person with the most complicated feelings is Leader Lee."

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