Yoo In-tae: "After Lee Jae-myung's message, talk arose that 'the party cannot work together'"

"Strong Backlash... Psychological Bundang Crisis"
Pro-Myeong's 'Will End Political Life' Remarks May Also Trigger Backlash

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has sparked controversy with a message he posted the day before the vote on his arrest consent bill, urging its rejection. In this context, Yoo In-tae, a senior figure in the party and former Secretary-General of the National Assembly, expressed concern, saying, "It seems that the backlash is much stronger than expected."

On the 21st, Yoo told CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show', "After that message came out, I believe it led to a psychological split within the party."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee had posted on social media the previous day, stating, "The approval of this clearly illegal and unjust arrest consent bill will only give wings to the political prosecution's fabricated investigation," urging its rejection.

However, this stance contradicted his earlier declaration in June to waive his immunity from arrest, which sparked controversy.

He said, "During the last representative speech, he made an impromptu statement not in the script, saying he would waive it. And everyone believed in that sincerity. So naturally, when he started a hunger strike this time and people said, 'Isn't this another protective hunger strike?', we expected that when the arrest consent bill came, he would appeal for its approval, the opposite of what actually happened," he criticized Lee's response, adding, "Who would have thought he would come out like that, issuing a message urging rejection?"

Yoo, the former Secretary-General, said, "(The lawmakers) were quite shocked. Some even said things like, 'I can't continue with the party anymore.'" He added, "(The psychological impact) seems to be significant."

He also expressed concern that the current conflict might surface ahead of the upcoming general election. He said, "Even if the bill is rejected this time, it seems like a move to postpone the issue to avoid internal strife before this important regular session of the National Assembly. But after the session ends, probably in December, it looks like they will fight fiercely regardless," adding, "Whether more arrest consent bills come or not, if there is no compromise on how to handle things before the general election, it seems they will not hesitate to split."

Recently, Kang Wi-won, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party's National Innovation Council and a pro-Lee Jae-myung figure outside the National Assembly, said on YouTube that those who voted for approval would be identified and their political careers ended. Yoo said this is more likely to cause backlash rather than intimidate the anti-Lee faction. Yoo pointed out, "It's a backlash. Who would be scared and shrink back from such words after already earning their badges? How do they plan to identify people?"

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