The arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on suspicion of preferential development in Baekhyeon-dong and Ssangbangwool remittances to North Korea was dismissed early on the morning of the 27th. After the plenary session of the National Assembly passed the arrest motion, Representative Lee, who faced the greatest juncture in his political career, was once again revived. On the other hand, the prosecution, which was confident of arrest, faced a ‘long battle’ in which it had to prove CEO Lee’s guilt through a trial without detention.
Chang-hoon Yoo, chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Representative Lee at 2:26 a.m. on this day. Chief Judge Yu said, “It appears that the charge of instigation of perjury has been proven, but in the case of the instigation of perjury and the Baekhyeon-dong development project, it is difficult to say that there is concern about destruction of evidence,” adding, “It is difficult to say that there is a reason or need for arrest.” After completing 9 hours and 17 minutes of interrogation, Representative Lee, who was waiting at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do, returned to Green Hospital in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, where he was receiving treatment after the ruling.
During the interrogation on this day, Representative Lee said that the charges of breach of trust (Baekhyeon-dong development preferential treatment), bribery and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act (Ssangbangwool Group’s illegal remittance to North Korea), and instigation of perjury (related to the trial of impersonating a prosecutor) all depended on the statements and circumstances of others. It is reported that the claim was made that it was a ‘novel’. Representative Lee is known to have actively defended himself during interrogation, including making supplementary remarks to the defense attorney’s explanation. The prosecution went on the offensive with a 1,600-page written opinion and a 500-page presentation ( PPT ), but failed to secure Representative Lee’s identity.
Representative Lee Jae-myung, who escaped the threat of arrest, was given the dual task of directing the Democratic Party’s preparations for the general election while preparing for a legal showdown with the prosecution. There are expectations in the political world that Representative Lee will use his group of close associates, who dominate his leadership, to begin the process of purging the non-members who led the passage of the arrest motion in earnest. Representative Lee’s close group, the pro-Myeong faction (pro-Lee Jae-Myung faction), elected Rep. Hong Ik-pyo as floor leader on this day and are targeting key party positions such as the appointed top member and secretary-general, who are scheduled to be replaced.
Lee, who escaped arrest, returns to duty next monthCEO Lee Jae-myeong, who escaped the risk of arrest, is again admitted to Green Hospital and continues treatment. A full-fledged return to duty is expected after the Chuseok holiday.
It is reported that the reason the arrest warrant was dismissed was because Representative Lee was not at risk of flight as the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, and the defense team’s logic was that there was no evidence that Representative Lee profited from or directly intervened in most of the charges raised by the prosecution. .
In response to concerns raised by the prosecution about destroying evidence, the defense team argued, “There is no evidence to destroy as more than hundreds of searches and seizures have already been conducted and witnesses have been investigated.” Attorney Park Gyun-taek, who represented Lee, met with reporters after the warrant review ended and said, “The two prosecutors’ offices have conducted more than 200 search and seizures and extensive investigations over a year and a half, so there is no evidence to prove the person’s life, and the crime is not recognized under the law.” “I explained that there were so many that there was no need to even go to the risk of destruction,” he said.
The court accepted much of this argument and concluded that there was no need to detain Representative Lee. Seoul Central District Court Chief Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, who was in charge of the interrogation, said, “In the case of the Baekhyeon-dong development project, considering the status of the suspect and the statements of those involved, there is suspicion that the suspect was involved, but direct evidence is lacking.”
The theory of division rises amid concerns over purges of screams.As soon as Representative Lee returns to party duties, he is expected to begin work to replace leadership positions assigned to non-Myeong factions with pro-Myeong faction members in the interest of peace. Currently, all political office bearers in the party secretariat, including Secretary General Cho Jung-sik and Policy Committee Chairman Kim Min-seok, have submitted their resignations. Rep. Song Gap-seok, the only non-appointed member of the highest committee, also expressed his resignation on the 23rd. There are predictions in the opposition that Lee Jae-myeong’s faction will monopolize both the leadership and the floor command.
It is expected that starting next month, with the help of strong supporters, a full-fledged ‘liquidation operation’ will begin against the non-government group. The Democratic Party conducts evaluations of National Assembly members from October to November and operates a nomination management committee from December. In all processes leading up to nominations, including the evaluation of lawmakers and primary elections, the evaluations of the Rights Party members are reflected to a large extent. Representative Lee’s strong supporter group, the “dog daughters,” has already launched a “killing department” against major non-affiliated lawmakers such as Seol Hoon, Lee Won-wook, and Cho Eung-cheon. ‘, foreshadowing a campaign to be defeated in the primary.
Survival strategies are being discussed little by little among non-member lawmakers. A representative example is the small-scale split party scenario in which some of the lawmakers who were previously classified as pro-Moon (pro-Moon Jae-in) faction among non-partisan groups will leave the party and run the general election as members of a new party. A first-term lawmaker from the non-Chinese faction predicted, “If factional conflict progresses to an extreme situation and a division is achieved, the pro-Moon faction, which can rely on former President Moon Jae-in’s halo, will be the focal point.”
Democratic Party steps forward as a unified force in hard-line struggleThe intensity of the Democratic Party’s struggle against the government and the ruling party, led by Representative Lee, is expected to intensify. While the Democratic Party defines the prosecution’s investigation into Representative Lee as ‘political oppression to eliminate political opponents,’ a strong confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties is expected to be inevitable as Representative Lee recovers from the crossroads of imprisonment. Accordingly, it is expected that there will be a series of setbacks in the processing of the motion to appoint Lee Kyun-yong as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the holding of personnel hearings for three new ministerial candidates, and the processing of public welfare bills.
The Democratic Party reorganized its leadership system centered around the pro-Myung (pro-Lee Jae-myung) faction, taking the opportunity to pass the motion for arrest of Representative Lee. We have a single unit for a hard-line struggle against the government and ruling party. In the Supreme Committee, Supreme Council member Song Gap-seok, who is from the non-Myeong faction (non-Lee Jae-myung), resigned, leaving the pro-Myung faction members Jeong Cheong-rae, Seo Young-kyo, Park Chan-dae, Jang Gyeong-tae, Ko Min-jeong, and Seo Eun-sook. Koh, a former Supreme Council member and former Blue House spokesperson under the Moon Jae-in administration, has been classified as a non-Clan member, but is aligned with the pro-Myung Clan by publicly declaring that he recently voted down the motion to arrest Representative Lee.
Rep. Hong Ik-pyo, a third-term member of the pro-Myung faction, was elected to replace floor leader Park Gwang-on, who was brought down by the pro-Myung faction for responsibility for passing the arrest motion. New floor leader Hong criticized the current government, saying, “Due to the incompetence안전놀이터and self-righteousness of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, democracy is retreating and the people’s lives are in a difficult environment.” ‘Retreating democracy’ is the justification given by Representative Lee when he went on an indefinite fast.
Representative Lee, who escaped arrest, and the emergence of pro-Myeong faction-centered Democratic Party leaders who claim to be Representative Lee’s bodyguards are likely to delay the processing of the mountain of public welfare bills. The ruling and opposition parties planned to pass about 90 bills at the plenary session on the 21st, including the Act on Simplification of Actual Cost Medical Insurance Supply and Demand (Amendment to the Insurance Business Act), the ‘Mug Shot Disclosure Act’ (Act on Disclosure of Personal Information of Suspects of Specific Serious Crimes), and the Protection of Childbirth Act, but these were canceled. As the vote on the appointment of this candidate for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has also been delayed, there are signs that the vacuum at the head of the judiciary will be prolonged.
People Power Party floor spokesperson Jang Dong-hyuk said, “There are numerous tasks ahead of us right now, from the vacancy of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the first time in 30 years to people’s livelihood bills such as the Special Act on Protected Childbirth.” He added, “With the election of floor leader Hong, the 21st National Assembly will be able to move away from political strife and improve the people’s livelihood.” “I look forward to being reborn as one who cooperates for the sake of government,” he said.