Court to hold hearing to decide on arrest warrant for opposition leader Lee

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Thu, November 30, 2023 | 19:31

Politics

Court to hold hearing to decide on arrest warrant for opposition leader Lee

Posted : 2023-09-26 08:21

Updated : 2023-09-26 10:36

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, waves to his supporters at a hospital in Seoul, Sept. 26, as he leaves for the Seoul Central District Court to attend a hearing to review the legality of his detention over corruption charges. Yonhap

A Seoul court was set to hold a hearing Tuesday to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over corruption charges, the biggest crisis yet for the former presidential candidate.

The Seoul Central District Court will hold the hearing at 10 a.m., three days after Lee, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea(DPK), pulled out of his hunger strike launched on Aug. 31 in protest of what he called the "incompetent and violent" government of Yoon.

Lee has been accused of breach of trust, bribery and other charges stemming from his time as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, years ago in connection with a scandal-ridden land development project and his alleged involvement in a company's illegal cash remittance to North Korea.

The prosecution accuses Lee of committing breach of trust worth 20 billion won ($15 million) by giving special treatment to a private developer in the Baekhyeon-dong district apartment project in the city of Seongnam, south of Seoul, between 2014 and 2015, when he was serving as the city's mayor.

Lee is also suspected of asking Ssangbangwool Group, an underwear maker, to illegally transfer $8 million to North Korea between 2019 and 2020, when he was serving as Gyeonggi Province governor, through his deputy to facilitate his visit to the North, and push for a joint smart farm project between his province and Pyongyang.

The court is expected to make a decision as early as Tuesday night if the hearing proceeds as scheduled.

Should the court issue the warrant, it would deal a serious blow to Lee's leadership, but if the court rejects the warrant request, it would bolster Lee's standing in the party and lead to a massive blowback against the government.

By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliamentary is in session unless the National Assembly passes a motion giving its consent to the arrest, a measure intended to shield lawmakers from political persecution.

Last week, the National Assembly voted to lift the opposition leader's arrest immunity in a surprise, narrow 149-136 vote attributed to a number of dissenting ballots from his own party that commands a majority of parliamentary seats.

The DPK has vehemently lambasted the motion as the government's attempt to "kill a political enemy" eight months before the general elections.

Lee has been under medical treatment since he was hospitalized on Sept. 18 due to deteriorating health during his hunger strike. He has been put on treatment for recovery after ending the hunger strike on its 24th day on Saturday. (Yonhap)