Main opposition party in turmoil after chairman barely escapes arrest

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung visits Susaek Elementary School in western Seoul, Tuesday, to meet school cafeteria workers. Joint Press Corps

DPK's factional rift expected to widen as prosecutors continue to hound leader

By Nam Hyun-woo

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is plagued by factional strife after its leader, Lee Jae-myung, narrowly escaped arrest in Monday's National Assembly vote. Some of his own party members voted to approve a request by prosecutors to take him into custody on charges of corruption and bribery.

The DPK's leadership, Tuesday, called for unity between party members. But the party's mainstream pro-Lee faction chided members who voted for the arrest motion. Other factions of the DPK urged the chairman to step down.

"The vote result was not in line with the DPK's consensus and the party's leadership will deeply ponder over its meaning," DPK floor leader Park Hong-keun said during a party meeting.

"The vote should not lead to further turmoil or conflict within the party. The leadership will do its best to maintain the DPK's united spirit," Park added.

Also on Tuesday, Lee met with school cafeteria workers and spoke to reporters, but declined to comment on the vote result.

"Instead of focusing on whether or not I will be arrested, please pay more attention to controlling consumer prices and improving people's livelihood," Lee said.

Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for the DPK chief earlier this month on suspicions that he was involved in a land development scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province and attracted corporate donations to Seongnam Football Club (Seongnam FC) in return for administrative favors, when he was the mayor of the city.

Out of 297 lawmakers who cast ballots, 139 approved Lee's arrest and 138 rejected it, while nine were abstentions and 11 were considered invalid.

Although approvals outnumbered rejections, the prosecutors' request was dismissed because a sitting lawmaker's arrest requires more than half of the total number of National Assembly members to be present and more than half of those in attendance to approve, meaning at least 149 approvals were required for Lee's arrest.

Initially, the DPK was confident that the request would be dismissed easily, given it holds 169 out of the 299-seat Assembly, while the mainstream opinion of the party was that it must prevent Lee from falling victim to "political persecution" by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. However, the vote result showed that at least 31 DPK members approved Lee's arrest.

In the wake of the result, Lee's loyalists harshly criticized those who cast dissenting ballots.

"If those who cast approval votes felt that they would have a difficult time gaining approval to run in next year's general election under the current party leadership, they have done something in favor of those who want to see our party split up," DPK Rep. Choe Kang-wook said during a media interview, Tuesday.

DPK Rep. Kim Yong-min said in a message on his Facebook, "If Chairman Lee had won the presidential election last year, those who cast approval ballots [for his arrest] would have boasted that they had made the greatest contribution to the victory."

At the same time, hardline supporters of Lee are attempting to find those who voted to arrest the chairman. On a DPK members' online forum, multiple users uploaded screenshots of text messages they exchanged with aides demanding confirmation of which lawmakers rejected Lee's arrest. Several unconfirmed lists of DPK lawmakers assumed to have approved Lee's arrest were also circulating online.

Flag of the prosecution flutters in front of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, Tuesday. Yonhap

On the other hand, the anti-Lee faction argues that the vote result reflects the hidden sentiment of the DPK members.

"The number [of approval votes] is just the tip of the iceberg," DPK Rep. Lee Sang-min said during a radio interview. "Although I must be cautious in commenting about the chairman's future, I am quite certain that he should take action."

The lawmaker said the chairman could complain that the prosecution's investigation is unfair, but it is clear that he is responsible for the DPK's deteriorating reputation.

"Although we follow Lee's leadership, concerns are growing that the entire party may fall off a cliff," he added.

The party's factional divide is anticipated to widen, because prosecutors are anticipated to either indict the chairman without arresting him or seek an additional arrest warrant for other allegations.

Currently, the DPK's party charter states that its chairman will be suspended from the post in case he or she has been indicted on corruption charges. However, the party added an additional clause last August when Lee was appointed as chairman, stating that it can make different decisions in case there are "unfair reasons, such as political persecution."

The DPK's leadership said Sunday this exempts Lee from being suspended from the party chairmanship, but the anti-Lee faction has been criticizing the new clause, saying it would only encourage the ruling party's accusations.

Pundits also believe prosecutors will likely seek an arrest warrant on a separate allegation that Lee was involved in underwear maker Ssangbangwool's suspected cash remittances to North Korea, and the DPK may not be able to dismiss an additional arrest request, given the previous result which showcased the divide within party.

After its request was dismissed on Monday, the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office expressed regret and pledged to conduct additional investigations into existing charges.