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Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks at a press briefing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Feb. 23. (Yonhap)

On Thursday, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung made it clear that he would not be giving up his immunity from arrest, comparing his situation to the minimum precautions to be taken in a “lawless world where robbers and gangsters recklessly maraud.”

The recent remarks clearly illustrate Lee’s position amid increasing calls from within his party and beyond for Lee to make a political decision.

At a press conference that day, Lee responded to a reporter’s question about his campaign pledge to abolish a law that grants immunity from arrest to sitting lawmakers.

“At that time, I didn’t expect a case to be created and fabricated out of nothing as is happening now,” Lee answered.

Lee clarified that he had no intention of undoing immunity from arrest for National Assembly members, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, during the administration of Yoon Suk-yeol.

The press conference was held one day before the motion for his arrest warrant was reported to the National Assembly on Friday.

During the 96-minute-long press conference Lee disputed the contents of prosecutors’ warrant request and launched a strong counterattack against the Yoon government and the prosecution.

“This is an era of violence in which judicial hunting masquerading as the rule of law is becoming a daily routine,” Lee said. “Even in a crisis where there are difficulties with the economy and people’s finances and a cloud of war hangs over the Korean Peninsula, instead of trying to solve the problems, [the government] is preoccupied with how to destroy the opposition party, eliminate political opponents, and change the playing board in their favor for the next election” Lee continued.

“If an intruder illegally crosses the border and invades, we must fight them off and expel them. I think that is the political process,” Lee said, characterizing the investigation into him as a “risk” on the part of the prosecutors, rather than a judicial one concerning himself.

In other words, Lee intends to engage in a life-or-death fight with prosecutors rather than relinquish his immunity from arrest as a sitting lawmaker.

“At this point, we have a strong will to face this directly,” one of Lee’s aides said.

While seemingly calm in regard to the vote on the arrest motion scheduled for Monday, a sense of crisis is mounting within the Democratic Party about what will happen in the vote’s aftermath.

For now, Lee’s party has agreed to vote against the motion for his arrest, but there are increasing calls from within the party for him to make a “political decision” at an appropriate time. The longer the prosecution is able to continue repeatedly requesting arrest warrants, the greater the burden on the party’s shoulders increases.

Yoo In-tae, the former secretary-general of the National Assembly, shared his thoughts about the current situation in a radio interview with CBS on Thursday.

“My hope is that [Lee] will engage in politics that impress the people,” said Yoon, who asked, “Is it acceptable for a person to keep on freeloading like this without being willing to take at least the risk?” in reference to the possibility of Lee being arrested.

In other words, Yoo is arguing that Lee should stop fretting about the processing of the arrest motion and instead confidently face the warrant review.

“If he comes back confidently [and the warrant was rejected], then who will question [Lee’s] position in the party? Who knows, maybe his party will get a considerable ratings boost,” Yoo added.

Democratic lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon, who does not belong to Lee’s faction of the party, also shared his opinion about the current situation in a radio interview with KBS.

“If you look at the trends of public opinion polls, it’s a clear downward trend and it seems that the prosecution will continue to present piecemeal warrants. What are we supposed to do every time this happens?” Cho asked.

“This time it’ll get rejected, but shouldn’t Lee make some kind of decision [afterward]?” Cho added.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon also had strong remarks for Lee.

“His talk seems to be getting tougher, but it doesn’t seem like he’s saying anything new,” Han said regarding Lee’s denial of all the charges and rebuke of the Yoon administration and prosecutors using terms like “judicial hunt” and “invasion.”

“He should save his talk for the judge,” Han said.

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter; Oh Yeon-seo, staff reporter

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