DP won't defend lawmakers from future arrest motions

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DP won't defend lawmakers from future arrest motions

Published: 26 Jun. 2023, 18:45 Updated: 26 Jun. 2023, 18:52

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, left, speaks at the party's supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) announced Monday that it will no longer actively defend its lawmakers from future arrest motions filed to the National Assembly in an effort to shed its image of shielding members who face criminal prosecution.

The announcement, made by DP spokesman Kwon Chil-seung after a party supreme council meeting, follows a recommendation by an internal innovation committee, which launched last week to propose reforms following a spate of scandals that have rocked the party and threatens its hold on the National Assembly in parliamentary elections due to be held next year.

The DP controls 167 seats in the 300-seat legislature. By law, a sitting lawmaker can only be arrested while the National Assembly is in session if a majority of lawmakers present consent.

While the DP’s announcement falls short of adopting the committee’s advice, which was that the party should support arrest motions filed against lawmakers facing criminal allegations, Kwon explained that the DP going forward would “no longer open temporary legislative sessions to vote down arrest motions and urge lawmakers to present themselves for investigation when the legislature is out of session.”

Kwon also said the party “would not adopt an official party line” on how its lawmakers should vote on future arrest motions presented to the National Assembly, and that it would gather opinions from DP lawmakers on whether parliamentary immunity should be scrapped altogether.

The DP has recently been embroiled in several controversies and several of its lawmakers are under investigation by prosecutors.

Reps. Lee Sung-man and Youn Kwan-suk are accused of helping distribute bribes totaling 94 million won ($71,700) to DP members and lawmakers ahead of the party's national convention in 2021 to help then-lawmaker and eventual winner Song Young-gil be elected party chairman.

Lee and Youn both quit the party in May, but the DP-controlled legislature rejected arrest motions filed against the pair earlier this month.

Party leader Lee Jae-myung has also been indicted on various charges tied to the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal.

Lee — who served as mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, from 2010 to 2018 — is accused of committing breach of trust and inflicting damages on the city-owned developer by allowing private developers in the Daejang-dong project to pocket outsized profits from relatively minor investments.

He has also been accused of accepting bribes in the form of corporate sponsorship of Seongnam’s football club and being involved in illegal payments to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions.

The National Assembly rejected an arrest motion filed against the DP chairman in February.

One of the party’s former lawmakers, Kim Nam-kuk, has also faced accusations of concealing 6 billion won in cryptocurrency investments and transfers.

Kim is a young politician who asked party supporters for donations due to his supposedly dire financial situation.

Opinion within the DP regarding the future of lawmakers’ immunity from arrest appears to be split, with former leader Song expressing “absolute opposition” to scrapping the privilege.

The DP has faced criticism from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) that it was using immunity from arrest as a “bulletproof vest” to protect its own.

The only lawmaker whose arrest motion was approved by the current 21st National Assembly is Rep. Ha Young-je from the PPP.

A total of 68 motions for the arrest of a sitting lawmaker have been considered by the National Assembly since 1948 when Korea’s first constitution was promulgated.

Only 16 have been approved by the legislature, with 19 being rejected and 33 being withdrawn or expired.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]