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| ▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
(2nd LD) Yoon-opposition leader
(2nd LD) Request submitted for parliamentary consent to opposition leader's arrest
(ATTN: ADDS opposition leader Lee's remarks)
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- The Justice Ministry on Tuesday submitted a request for parliamentary consent to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's arrest over corruption charges, officials said.
The request was submitted to the National Assembly after Yoon signed off on it, officials said.
The president's endorsement is a procedural step that comes before the justice ministry submits the request for consent to the National Assembly. By law, prosecutors need parliamentary consent to arrest a lawmaker while the assembly is in session.
Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, faces charges of corruption and bribery in connection with development projects and donations to a municipal football club dating back to his time as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010-2018.
Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for him Thursday, marking the first time in South Korea that the prosecution has sought an arrest warrant for the head of the country's largest opposition party.
"The motion for consent of Chairman Lee Jae-myung's arrest was received yesterday and the president's approval was given. It is set to be sent to the National Assembly," the presidential office said.
Once it is sent to the National Assembly, the speaker is supposed to report it during the first plenary meeting to be held hereafter and put it to a vote within the following 72 hours but after the elapse of 24 hours.
The motion is scheduled to be reported to a plenary parliamentary meeting Friday and put to a vote next Monday.
Lee claimed his innocence, arguing he has been portrayed in media reports as someone who gained unfair profits from the Daejang-dong project, but the arrest warrant for him made no mention of him getting illicit money.
"You can see how they have slandered me through absurd media coverage and attacked me as if I made unfair profits," he told reporters. "Had I been illicitly involved in the case, would I have received no money like this?"
The National Assembly, where the DP has a majority, is expected to refuse to consent to Lee's arrest.
If prosecutors fail to win parliamentary consent to Lee's arrest, their arrest warrant request against him is automatically dismissed. In that case, prosecutors are widely expected to indict the opposition leader without detention.
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