People Power Party on Lee Jinsook's Arrest: "Police Abuse of Authority... We Will Hold Them Legally Accountable"

Jang Donghyuk: "Does Not Meet Requirements for Arrest"
Song Eonseok: "Condemning the Police's Politically Motivated Arrest"

On October 2, the People Power Party strongly objected to the police's arrest of former Korea Communications Commission Chairwoman Lee Jinsook on charges including violations of the Public Official Election Act, stating, "We will hold them legally accountable for abuse of authority."

Party leader Jang Donghyuk held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly that day, saying, "Chairwoman Lee's attorney notified the police of her reason for non-attendance and also submitted a written statement explaining her absence. This clearly does not meet the requirements for an arrest," he said.

Jang continued, "On September 26, when the former chairwoman was scheduled to appear for questioning, the Democratic Party submitted a bill to abolish the Korea Communications Commission, and a filibuster was underway in the plenary session. The law stipulates that the chairperson of the commission must attend the plenary session. There was a clear and legitimate reason she could not attend the police investigation," he argued.

He added, "Whether the written statement of non-attendance was attached to the investigation records when applying for the warrant or not, both constitute abuse of authority. In any case, the police cannot avoid responsibility, and we will ensure they are held legally accountable."

Song Eonseok, the party's floor leader, also criticized the move on Facebook, calling it "a classic example of a politically motivated investigation designed to distort public opinion by putting the 'Lee Jinsook arrest' issue on the Chuseok holiday table, as well as a sycophantic investigation by the police to curry favor with the administration."

He said, "We strongly condemn the Democratic Party's legislative tyranny and the police's politically retaliatory arrest. We will never tolerate this reckless trampling of freedom and democracy."

Earlier in the afternoon, the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul executed an arrest warrant near Lee's residence in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, after obtaining the warrant from the court on the grounds that the former chairwoman had failed to comply with more than three summonses.

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