Possible Arrest of Lee Jae Myung and the Fate of the Korean Democratic Party

Picture of Lee Jae Myung, the Korean Democratic Party Leader. Photo: Kim-Hong-Ji / Reuters

President Yoon of South Korea approved the request to arrest Lee Jae Myung, leader of the Korean Democratic Party, on February 20th. The conflict regarding Lee escalated during the presidential election between the People’s Power Party, the current ruling party of Korea, and the Democratic Party. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Democratic Party Leader Lee Jae Myung raced each other in the 2022 presidential election. 

While various accusations toward Lee Jae Myung have been made since the presidential election, such as Lee’s Wife’s illegal usage of a Corporate card and four criminal records, the most controversial topic was Lee’s alleged illegal intervention in the Daejang-dong development. The Daejang-dong development scandal is Lee’s alleged intervention in funneling hundreds of millions of dollars generated from the development to a private company owned by a single person.

The Daejang-dong scandal, along with other accusations, did not directly affect Lee’s political life as a member of the National Assembly, however. Two significant factors protected Lee from being further investigated and possibly prosecuted according to his allegations.

Picture of President Yoon holding hands with Lee Jae Myung, leader of the Democratic Party. Photo: SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg

The first factor is that President Yoon also had some major scandals surrounding him and his wife, ranging from alleged stock price manipulation by his wife to having a close friendship with a ‘shaman.’ Therefore, both the People’s Power Party and the Democratic Party had undergone a mutual truce to prevent further damage to their leaders’ reputation after Yoon’s presidency. 

Another factor is that Lee Jae Myung had been elected as a member of the National Assembly right after his accusations and following pressure were reaching their peak. Despite the fact that Lee Jae Myung and his party lost the presidential election, Lee was still protected by a Korean law stating that anyone who is a member of the National Assembly can only be arrested when the National Assembly, or the Congress, votes in favor of it. In other words, Lee is immune to any lawful arrest when the National Assembly is in session. 

President Yoon and his party, however, decided to utilize the only method possible to arrest Lee as multiple witnesses confirm the Daejang-dong scandal to be true, along with the rising possibility of Lee’s connection with North Korea after the Prosecution's investigation.

At this point, the only likely way to arrest Lee Jae Myung would be for the Prosecution to claim an arrest warrant to the Court, which then sends a request of arrest to the government. 

Now that President Yoon, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Justice have approved the request, the case will be called for a vote among the members of the National Assembly. If the majority votes in favor of the arrest, Lee Jae Myung will be arrested despite his immunity as a member of the National Assembly. 

However, due to the large number of seats secured by the Democratic Party, it is very unlikely that it will be approved by the National Assembly. If this unlikely situation happens, the Democratic Party will suffer from a loss of strong leadership and will likely be subjected to internal division among the party elites.