Lee Won-wook: "Lee Jae-myung's 'Okjung Nomination' is sincere... He should step down as party leader"

"Handonghun Implies Intent to Embarrass Lee Jaemyung"
"Handonghun's Disclosure of Suspect Facts? Baseless Claim"

With the arrest motion against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, being passed on the 21st, speculation about the possibility of 'prison nomination' in preparation for his detention is emerging mainly among his pro-Lee (친명) faction. Meanwhile, Lee Won-wook, a Democratic Party lawmaker from the anti-Lee (비명) faction, raised his voice, saying that instead of pursuing a prison nomination, Lee should step down from his position as party leader.

On the 22nd, in YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon,' Lee said, "After the first arrest motion was rejected on February 27, there was a phone call between a certain media editorial writer and Leader Lee, during which he said, 'I would even do a prison nomination.' Hasn't this been reported? I believe that was sincere," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "A party leader in prison could do a prison nomination, but ultimately, since he would be unable to perform his duties, even if he retained the position, day-to-day party affairs would be carried out under an acting leadership system," and "The first priority for the acting leader would be the floor leader." This means that if Leader Lee is detained, the new floor leader would effectively take on the role of party leader.

Lee emphasized that not only the floor leadership but also the party leadership should resign. He said, "Those who should take responsibility are staying still, while everything is being passed on to those with less responsibility," and "The people who should be responsible are Leader Lee and the existing leadership."

Regarding the attitude of Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, who gave a 30-minute explanation during the vote on the arrest motion the previous day, Lee said, "Bringing so much material seems to imply an intention to disgrace Leader Lee," but also added, "Democratic Party lawmakers protested, and because of this protest, the speaking time was cut off. At that time, I thought, 'Oh, by now Minister Han must have finished his remarks.' I felt that way sitting there." This means that the protests by Democratic Party lawmakers actually extended Minister Han's speaking time.

Within the Democratic Party, some are criticizing Minister Han's explanation of the arrest motion as 'disclosure of suspect information.' However, Lee said, "That is completely baseless," and explained, "It is natural for the Minister of Justice to come and explain the purpose of the arrest warrant. Disclosure of suspect information refers to investigators, prosecutors, or police officers revealing investigation details outside the investigation process."

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