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Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is transported to a hospital on Sept. 18 due to deteriorating health amid a hunger strike. A sign next to his bed reads “We condemn the Yoon Suk-yeol regime’s prosecutor dictatorship!”

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was rushed to a hospital on Monday morning due to deteriorating health as he entered the 19th day of his hunger strike.

The Democratic Party leader began his hunger strike at the National Assembly on Aug. 31 to demand a complete overhaul of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s policies and a Cabinet reshuffle.

Stating that Lee’s condition had “deteriorated rapidly,” an official with the Democratic Party commented that Lee was “conscious, but had been showing some signs of delirium.”

Lee, who has been fasting at the party’s office in the National Assembly, was taken to the nearby Catholic University of Korea Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital at 7:10 am in an ambulance.

The Democratic Party said that it had called on medics who were on standby in the area at 6:55 am, the same time that an ambulance was called.

The party explained that Lee had shown no sign of change from the day prior and was exhibiting symptoms of dehydration and seemed dazed at the time of being moved to the hospital.

Democratic Party lawmakers including Jung Chung-rae and Cheon Jun-ho gather outside the Catholic University of Korea Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital on Sept. 18, where Lee Jae-myung was admitted for treatment. (Yonhap)

In related news, prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Lee for the second time on Monday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office sought warrants for Lee’s arrest on charges of breach of trust, subornation of perjury, bribery, and violating the law on foreign financial exchange.

Prosecutors had sought a warrant to arrest Lee in February on suspicions related to development projects in the Seongnam neighborhoods of Daejang and Wirye and the Seongnam Football Club during Lee’s tenure as mayor. But the National Assembly rejected a motion that would have allowed for a court to review the warrant request.

By Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter; Kang Jae-gu, staff reporter

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