Lee Jae-myung vs. Prosecution, Tug of War Over Attendance on the 4th: "Morning Only" vs. "Unacceptable"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the prosecution are engaged in a tense standoff over the timing of summons and investigation methods related to the 'Ssangbangwool Group's alleged remittance to North Korea'.

According to political circles on the 1st, Lee's side stated that he would appear at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on the 4th, the date requested by the prosecution, but considering party affairs, he would only undergo the first round of questioning in the morning. However, the prosecution reportedly did not accept this.

Kang Sun-woo, spokesperson, held a briefing at the National Assembly in the afternoon and said, "The prosecution refused the summons schedule on the 4th."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Park Kwang-on, floor leader, are attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the hunger strike tent in front of the National Assembly main building on the 1st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

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Spokesperson Kang criticized, "Even though we expressed willingness to appear early as the prosecution wanted, their refusal shows that the prosecution is not interested in uncovering the truth but only intends to politically investigate and tarnish the reputation of Lee and the Democratic Party. There is no other interpretation."

It is known that Lee's side informed the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating the allegations, of their intention to appear on the 4th in the morning. Previously, Lee was requested by the prosecution on the 23rd of last month to appear on the 30th, and he offered to appear on the 24th or 26th for questioning, but the prosecution rejected this and then notified him to appear between September 11 and 15. Subsequently, the prosecution demanded Lee's appearance on September 4.

Lee's side agreed to appear on the 4th as requested by the prosecution but proposed to undergo the first round of questioning for only two hours in the morning due to scheduling considerations. However, the prosecution effectively rejected this, stating that the investigation cannot be completed in two hours.

When reporters asked spokesperson Kang, "Isn't the prosecution saying that the investigation on the 4th should be a full session (morning and afternoon)?", Kang replied, "Lee said he would appear and be questioned in the morning on the 4th and, since he has an afternoon schedule, additional questioning would be done the following week, but the prosecution refused, saying 'that cannot be done'." He emphasized, "The prosecution expressed refusal regarding the position to appear on the 4th."

The Democratic Party has an international joint conference scheduled for the afternoon of the 4th to call for the withdrawal of Fukushima contaminated water ocean dumping. The party explained that this is significant as it is the first international conference where countries gather either in person or via video call to oppose the dumping of contaminated water.

In response to a question suggesting, "Is this schedule something that suddenly appeared and was not originally planned?", spokesperson Kang answered, "The schedule for the international conference has been known for a long time. It was included in internal meeting materials."

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