DP lawmakers hold rally to slam Yoon for arrest warrant

Members of the Democratic Party (DP) on Friday denounce prosecutors for seeking to arrest DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung in front of the National Assembly Building in Yeouido, western Seoul. [YONHAP]

Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers gathered at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Friday morning to denounce prosecutors for attempting to detain their leader, DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung.

A large crowd of DP members, including lawmakers, aides and rank-and-file staffers, showed up in front of the National Assembly Building holding pickets that accused the Yoon Suk Yeol administration of running the country as a dictatorship.

The DP said some 2,000 people showed up at the rally, which was held a day after prosecutors applied for a pre-trial detention warrant for Lee on a slew of corruption charges when he was serving as the mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, from 2010 to 2018.

It was the first time in Korean history that prosecutors sought a detention warrant for the leader of the largest party opposed to the president.

Lee, who now doubles as a lawmaker representing a district in Incheon, lost to Yoon in a tight presidential election last year.

For the court to review Lee's detention warrant, prosecutors first need to obtain consent from the National Assembly, which is unlikely given that the liberal DP holds a parliamentary majority.

Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) on Friday slammed the DP for coddling Lee, saying the party should vote for the detention warrant and have Lee face court.

The conservative PPP said it was “preposterous” for the DP to claim that the Yoon administration was running a dictatorship without sincerely apologizing for Lee’s alleged corruption, calling Lee the epitome of a “shameful politician.”

During Friday’s rally at the National Assembly, Lee called on Yoon to start focusing on more important issues such as ways to improve public livelihoods, insisting that the president was stuck in the past.

In Lee’s pre-trial detention warrant, prosecutors described five key allegations linked to the Daejang-dong and Wirye development projects as well as the Seongnam FC football club, accusing Lee of corruption, bribery, dereliction of duty, conflict of interest and concealment of criminal proceeds.

Lee has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.

In the case of bribery, prosecutors believe that the Seongnam city government granted favorable business treatment to several companies including Doosan E&C and Naver in return for cash transferred to the Seongnam FC football club, which was owned by Lee at the time.

On Lee’s warrant, prosecutors reportedly accused the former mayor of personally setting the amount of cash he asked from each company, receiving more than 13 billion won ($10 million) in total.

As for his motive, prosecutors said Lee appeared to have been afraid to face public scrutiny when the Seongnam FC football club didn’t attract as many corporate donations as he expected when it was first established.

Eager to promote the football club as one of his successful pet projects as mayor, prosecutors said Lee chose to exercise the various powers he had as head of the city government, such as granting permits to companies in construction and zoning, to squeeze vulnerable companies for donations.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]