hankyoreh

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung sits in the National Assembly hall as Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon explains the request for consent to arrest Lee that lawmakers will vote on, on Feb. 27. (Kim Bong-gyu/The Hankyoreh)

A bill that would have cleared the way for the arrest of Lee Jae-myung, head of the opposition Democratic Party, was narrowly defeated in the National Assembly on Monday as a large number of lawmakers from Lee’s own party voted to approve his arrest.

The arrest warrant requested by the prosecutors in their first attempt to jail the head of an opposition party listed charges connected with the municipal football club and development projects in the neighborhoods of Daejang and Wirye of Seongnam, where Lee had served as mayor.

While the arrest warrant failed to gain the approval of the National Assembly, the revolt of at least 30 members of the Democratic Party is a serious blow to Lee’s leadership that raises hard questions for the shocked party as it contemplates Lee’s future.

The anonymous vote on Lee’s arrest motion in the National Assembly on Monday was held with 297 lawmakers in attendance. The motion was rejected with 139 in favor, 138 opposed, 9 abstaining, and 11 invalid votes. While the quorum of at least half of registered lawmakers (299) was reached, passage of the motion would have required support from a majority (149) of lawmakers in attendance (297).

The motion’s defeat means that Lee will not have to face judicial review as part of the arrest warrant request.

During the vote on Monday, there was a dispute between the ruling and opposition party about how to handle two ballots that lawmakers had not clearly marked. Following deliberation between the floor leaders of the two major parties, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo decided to count one of the ballots as a vote against the motion and to invalidate the other.

In a meeting before the vote on Monday, the Democratic Party reached a consensus about opposing the motion and expressed confidence that lawmakers would stick to the party line and soundly defeat it. But even though all 169 lawmakers in the party were in attendance, only 138 total lawmakers ended up voting against the motion.

In a personal address shortly before the vote, Lee appealed to lawmakers to defeat the motion and “send a stern warning to a government that seeks to cloak its regressive behavior behind the rule of law.” But in the end, at least 31 members of his own party appear to have defected by either supporting the motion, abstaining or casting invalid votes.

In effect, it was Lee who was rebuked as his arrest motion was barely voted down thanks to abstentions and invalid votes. The tally of 138 votes against the motion was much fewer than the 161 votes cast against a similar motion tabled against lawmaker Noh Woong-rae, also with the Democratic Party, in December 2022.

“This is a warning to Lee Jae-myung,” concluded one lawmaker in the Democratic Party’s leadership.

Before the vote, the ruling People Power Party (114 of 115 lawmakers in attendance), the Justice Party (6 lawmakers in attendance) and Transition Korea (1 lawmaker in attendance) had planned to support the motion. Yong Hye-in, lawmaker with the Basic Income Party, had promised to vote against it.

“The National Assembly, which is the temple of the people’s will, has confirmed just how unfair the prosecutors were to request an arrest warrant. I will communicate with the party and canvass more opinions as I fight back against Yoon Suk-yeol’s dictatorship and against the dictatorship of the prosecution service,” Lee told reporters after his arrest motion was voted down.

“The arrest motion may as well have passed. This amounts to a political death sentence for Lee Jae-myung,” said Chung Jin-suk, interim head of the ruling People Power Party.

“Lee and the Democratic Party need to take this seriously,” remarked lawmaker Ryu Ho-jeong, floor spokesperson for the Justice Party.

A high-ranking official from the presidential office told reporters that they had “nothing to say” about the outcome of the vote, declining to express an official position.

By Joh Yun-yeong, staff reporter; Oh Yeon-seo, staff reporter

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