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| ▲ Main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung gives a speech as the representative of the parliamentary negotiating body of the DP, at the National Assembly in Seoul, on June 19, 2023. (Yonhap) |
DP leader-speech
DP leader vows to give up immunity from arrest
By Kang Jae-eun
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Monday he will give up his immunity from arrest as a lawmaker, accusing the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol of unfair investigations of him and other political opponents.
Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), made the pledge during an address at the National Assembly, claiming that the Yoon administration is bent on "raids, arrests and political strife" without taking care of the economy and diplomacy.
Lee said the prosecution has conducted more than 300 raids in a probe targeting him while investigating almost all the people close to him during his years as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, and governor of Gyeonggi Province.
"I think they are trying to cause discord and division in the Democratic Party," Lee said during his address as leader of a parliamentary negotiating bloc. "I won't give them a pretext ... I will give up my right to immunity from arrest in the political investigation against me."
By law, national legislators are immune from arrest while parliament is in session, a measure designed to shield lawmakers from political investigations and persecution. Lawmakers can be arrested only when the Assembly consents to it.
Earlier this year, prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Lee on development corruption and bribery charges arising from his term as Seongnam mayor. But the DP-led National Assembly voted down a request for parliamentary consent to Lee's potential arrest.
Should the prosecution seek an arrest warrant for him again, Lee said he will voluntarily appear at a court hearing on the warrant and let people know how wicked the prosecution is.
"I will lay bare the true face of an administration that is bent on raids, arrests, indictments and political strife," he said, also accusing the Yoon administration of neglecting its duties to take care of people's livelihoods, the economy and diplomacy.
Lee also criticized the government's foreign policy, including the issue with Tokyo's plan to release waste waters from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant and the country's worsening relationship with China.
On the Fukushima issue, Lee urged the government to object to the plan in a more active manner, such as bringing the matter to an international court or raising funds together with other countries and providing the money to Japan to cover the expenses necessary to store the water rather than releasing it into the ocean.
"We need to clearly express our objections against the plan like other victim countries, work with other victim countries to file a complaint with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and demand a temporary ban on the release," he said.
On the relationship with China, Lee said the government should forge closer ties with Beijing along with its alliance with Washington, as relations with China are crucial for South Korea's national security and economy.
"Diplomacy is not a matter of aligning oneself with a certain camp but an economic issue and a matter of survival," he said, adding that Seoul needs to "reestablish cooperation on the supply chain framework with China in order to achieve swift economic stability and recovery."
Additionally, Lee said the DP will push for a 35 trillion-won (US$27.4 billion) supplementary budget for economic recovery and to help improve people's livelihoods, while coming up with additional laws to help jeonse fraud victims.
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