DP at crossroads before leader’s arrest hearing

Politics

Published: 25 Sep. 2023, 17:22 Updated: 25 Sep. 2023, 19:54

DP at crossroads before leader’s arrest hearing

Members of the liberal Democratic Party read statements against what they characterize as "prosecutiorial dictatorship" at the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung is expected to attend his closely watched arrest warrant hearing at Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday morning, according to party officials.

The hearing, which will be presided over by Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Given the complexity of the corruption charges brought against Lee by prosecutors, the court is expected to reach a decision on Lee’s arrest late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

Lee’s decision to attend the hearing comes after the National Assembly waived Lee’s immunity to arrest on Thursday, marking the first time that the legislature has given its consent to the arrest of the leader of a major political party.

While the parliamentary vote on the arrest motion against Lee was conducted anonymously, the 149-136 tally showed that almost 30 of the party’s 167 lawmakers unexpectedly broke ranks to vote in support of their leader’s arrest.

Despite his loss of parliamentary immunity and looming arrest warrant hearing, Lee does not intend to resign as DP chairman, according to party officials.

Rep. Jung Chung-rai, who is standing in as the party’s interim leader during Lee’s absence, vowed at the party’s Supreme Council meeting on Friday that the DP would soon recoalesce and find its footing in time for the general election due to take place in April.

But calls are mounting within the DP for retribution against the party’s lawmakers who supported the arrest motion.

The DP’s online public comments page has been flooded with thousands of angry messages calling on the party to unmask lawmakers who voted to strip Lee of his immunity from arrest and disallow them from running as DP candidates in the general election.

An online image of a watermelon circulating on pro-Lee Jae-myung websites reads, ″Let's not be deceived ever again by two-faced politicians.″ The fruit's green rind and red flesh are being used as a metaphor to refer to Democratic Party lawmakers who voted to allow Lee's arrest. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Several of the messages and pro-Lee community forums characterized such lawmakers as “watermelons,” using the contrast between the fruit’s green rind and red flesh as a metaphor for DP members who voted for the motion alongside the PPP.

A website created by a Lee supporter displayed photos of DP lawmakers who had previously voiced concerns about their party’s reluctance to allow Lee’s arrest, such as Reps. Cho Eung-chon, Sul Hoon and Yun Chang-hyun, accusing them of betraying the party leader.

One DP lawmaker, Rep. Eo Kiy-ku, posted a photo of his parliamentary nametag next to his ballot — marked “no” — in order to dispel accusations that he voted in favor of the motion.

On Monday, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency announced it had launched an investigation into an apparent death threat against DP lawmakers that was posted to an online forum at 8 p.m. the day before.

The author of that post said that they would “prepare a rifle” to use against 14 legislators whom they believe to have voted for the arrest motion.

Some DP members have spoken out against calls for revenge coming from angry party members and supporters.

“These attempts to ferret out lawmakers [who supported the motion] are frankly illogical and fundamentally undemocratic,” said Rep. Lee Sang-min.

Amid the turmoil wracking the DP, four lawmakers have thrown their hats into the ring to replace the party floor leader, Park Kwang-on, who resigned after the arrest motion against Lee was approved by the National Assembly.

All four — Kim Min-seok, Hong Ihk-pyo, Woo Won-shik and Nam In-soon — are part of Lee’s dominant faction within the DP.

Meanwhile, recent public polling shows that the country is deeply divided along partisan, regional and generational lines over prosecutors’ efforts to arrest Lee.

In a survey of 1,001 adults conducted by Gallup Korea from Sept. 19 to 21, 46 percent of all respondents said they support Lee’s arrest as part of the investigation, while 37 percent said they consider it unjust.

Almost nine out of ten people who identified as PPP voters said they support Lee’s arrest, while almost three-quarters of DP voters said they oppose it.

Regional support for Lee’s arrest was highest in Seoul at 61 percent, while opposition was most pronounced at 58 percent in Gwangju and the wider southwestern Jeolla region.

Just over half of respondents between the ages of 40 and 60 said they believe Lee is being unfairly prosecuted, while the majority of people in all other age groups said he should be investigated.

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