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| Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Newsis |
Lee Jae-myung insists innocence as lawmakers set to vote on arrest warrant
By Jung Min-ho
The embattled opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, again denied all the corruption allegations facing him, Thursday, accusing President Yoon Suk Yeol of abusing his power to remove his political opponents, ahead of lawmakers' upcoming vote on his arrest warrant.
A day after describing the president as a "gangster," Rep. Lee of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) claimed he had become a victim of the prosecution's "legal hunting" only because he lost in the presidential election.
"It is a crime to abuse the power given to gain personal benefits, remove political opponents or consolidate power further," Lee said during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul. "The Yoon administration and the ruling party appear to have no interest in the lives of the ordinary people, economy or security but only in abusing their power to strengthen themselves further and extract benefits."
Last week, the prosecution requested the court to issue an arrest warrant for the opposition leader, in an unprecedented scenario, over bribery allegations in connection with property developers and businesspeople during his term as the mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province from 2010 to 2018.
Under the Constitution, lawmakers cannot be arrested or detained while the Assembly is in session without parliamentary consent. Lawmakers will vote on Lee's case on Feb. 27. Given the seat majority held by the DPK, his arrest is expected to be rejected.
"What the Yoon administration wanted to show to the public was probably the images of Lee Jae-myung in handcuffs or waiting in the detention center before a court hearing on the arrest warrant," Lee said. "This violent rule of the prosecutor-dictator-like government may appear to be winning temporarily, but the people will not condone or forgive it."
Asked whether he would resign, he rejected the possibility, saying that he was able to serve successfully as the Gyeonggi governor while he was going through a trial over accusations of crimes, all of which were cleared eventually.
Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) urged him to make his case at the court instead of hiding behind the prerogative while criticizing his party for helping him do so.
"The easiest solution is to give up his immunity from arrest and attend the court hearing on the warrant," Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the PPP, told reporters earlier that day. "If it really was political persecution, it would certainly be disapproved … If it starts off on the wrong foot, Lee and his party will fall into the abyss from which they won't be able to come out."
DPK lawmakers have called for a united voice against what they say is political persecution.
"The arrest warrant will be rightly denied by an overwhelming number of lawmakers," Rep. Kim Sung-whan said at a party meeting.
Yet concerns have been growing within the party, which has seen its approval ratings falling in recent polls. According to a survey released Monday by pollster Realmeter, the DPK's support rate fell by 2.9 percentage points from a week earlier to 39.9 percent, while for the PPP it increased by 2.5 percentage points to 45 percent.
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