Tag: Lee Jae-myung

Lee Jae-myung is in the hospital now and thus able to achieve sympathey from the Korean left in an attempt to hopefully avoid arrest. I guess we will see if this tactic works:

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who has been on a hunger strike in protest against what he called a slew of the Yoon government’s policy failures, ended his fasting after more than three weeks, a party official said Saturday.

“Chairman Lee will end the hunger strike on its 24th day and begin treatment for recovery,” Kang Sun-woo, a spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said in a briefing.

“The medical team treating Lee strongly called for Lee to immediately call off the hunger strike as continuing it would have severely hurt his health,” Kang said, adding that Lee is willing to carry out his work schedule in consultation with the medical staff.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This further explains why Lee Jae-myung went on his so called hunger strike so he could be hospitalized because he likely knew many members of his own DPK political party, who are in the majority in the National Assembly, would defect to vote in favor of the motion to allow a vote on his arrest:

Parliamentary speaker Kim Jin-pyo (2nd from L) and the floor leaders of the two major rival parties are seen checking a ballot cast on a motion to waive opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s immunity from arrest, at the National Assembly in Seoul, on Sept. 21, 2023. (Yonhap)

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a motion seeking parliamentary consent to the potential arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, a surprise result that shows a number of dissenting votes from Lee’s own Democratic Party (DP).

With the motion’s passage in a 149-136 vote, a court hearing will be held to determine whether to grant the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Lee on corruption charges in connection with a land development project and a company’s illegal cash remittance to North Korea.

But it is unclear whether Lee will show up for the hearing, considering he has been on a hunger strike since Aug. 31 to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol’s handling of state affairs and was hospitalized earlier this week due to deteriorating health. 

The motion needed at least 148 votes in favor to pass. Given that Lee’s DP has 168 lawmakers in the 298-member National Assembly, the result suggests that dozens of DP lawmakers voted in favor of the potential arrest of their party leader.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but his hospitalization is last move to seek sympathy from members of the DPK to not vote for his potential arrest.

Very convenient that Lee Jae-myung checks himself into a hospital due to his so call hunger strike when prosecutors issue an arrest warrant for him:

Democratic Party of Korea head Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who is on day 19 of his hunger strike against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, is transferred out of his office on a stretcher Monday morning. (Yonhap)

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the bedridden leader of the Democratic Party of Korea on a strike against what he calls President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “tyrannical rule,” is wanted by prosecutors on an arrest warrant request for the second time this year.

Seoul prosecutors said Monday they filed a request for an arrest warrant against Lee, who is already a defendant in two corruption trials, on three different counts of accusations.

One is that he colluded with a policy aide while he was mayor of Seongnam to hand favors such as a change in land permits to private developers, allowing them to illicitly profit from a city development project. The second is that he personated a prosecutor, and then asked a witness to testify falsely in court. The last is that he, as governor of Gyeonggi Province, paid North Korean authorities to organize his Pyongyang trip and to negotiate the province’s business deals with North Korea.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Here is typical Korean political theater from Lee Jae-myung to try and gain public sympathy as he fights corruption allegations. The fact that he is going to these lengths of politcal theater shows that he is very concerned he is going to get the Lee Myung-bak treatment:

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung expressed his desire Monday to continue his hunger strike even after he was taken to a hospital due to deteriorating health on the 19th day of his fast earlier in the day, officials said.

Spokesperson Han Min-soo of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) delivered the information to reporters after Lee was transferred to a nearby hospital earlier, suffering dizziness and a sharp drop in blood sugar levels.

“Lee will only receive a minimal amount of IV treatment and will not consume any food. The move is interpreted as his will to put a stop to the reckless administration,” Han said.

Regarding Lee’s condition, Han said Lee is out of immediate danger but is far from regaining vitality.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the going rate for a DPK politician to visit North Korea is at least $3 million:

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was grilled by prosecutors again Tuesday over allegations of his involvement in a company’s illegal remittance to North Korea in 2019.

Lee, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party, left the Suwon District Prosecutors Office after around five hours of questioning on charges of third-party bribery, three days after he underwent the first round of questioning on Saturday.

“I don’t know why (investigators) called me again, as they again failed to put forth even a single piece of evidence,” Lee told reporters upon leaving the office.

The investigation centers on allegations that Ssangbangwool Group, an underwear maker, illegally transferred US$8 million to North Korea between January 2019 and January 2020 on behalf of Gyeonggi Province.

Prosecutors suspect that, of the total remittance, $5 million was meant for Gyeonggi’s smart farm support program in North Korea while the remaining $3 million was what the North had demanded as the cost of facilitating Lee’s visit to North Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this story only came out because the former company chairman was arrested for embezzlement and made the accusations.

I wonder if Lee even realizes his hypocrisy considering he is leading the party that led prosecutions against various conservative Korean politicians when the left held power:

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.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Lee Jae-myung is turning into the Bill Clinton of South Korea with all the investigations and suicides around him:

Police launched an investigation Thursday into the apparent suicide of former chief of staff of Rep. Lee Jae-myung, head of the main opposition Democratic Party, investigators said.

Lee’s former aide, surnamed Jeon, was reportedly found dead at his home in Seongnam, south of Seoul, by his family, at around 8: 50 p.m., according to officials. 

Authorities believe Jeon, who served as Lee’s chief of staff during his term as the governor of Gyeonggi Province, died by suicide.

Besides as Lee’s top aide, Jeon had also served as a senior manager of Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corp.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is likely why Lee Jae-myung ran for the National Assembly and became the opposition party leader so he could get immunity from the charges he saw building against him. What is surprising about these results is that many in his own party voted in favor of his arrest:

The National Assembly voted Monday to reject the government’s request for consent to arrest opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over corruption charges by a margin of only one vote, a surprising result that shows many of Lee’s own party voted for his arrest.

The motion was voted down 139-138 with nine abstentions and 11 deemed invalid.

The result, though in line with widespread views that Lee’s main opposition Democratic Party (DP) would use its majority power to reject the request, came as a surprise because it could mean that up to 30 DP lawmakers could have cast dissenting votes.

The DP, which has 169 lawmakers in the 299-seat National Assembly, had urged its lawmakers to reject the motion, denouncing the prosecution’s attempt to arrest Lee as political revenge by President Yoon Suk Yeol against his presidential election rival.

All DP lawmakers took part in the vote. 

In order for the motion to pass, it required a majority of the Assembly members to vote, and a majority of those voting to cast their ballots in favor. In Monday’s case, at least 149 votes were needed in favor of Lee’s arrest, as 297 out of 299 National Assembly members took part in the vote. 

By law, parliamentary consent is necessary to arrest a lawmaker while parliament is in session.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but maybe someone in the Korean media just needs to “find” a tablet PC with incriminating evidence against Lee on it like the opposition did to impeach former President Park.

So it was okay to investigate and jail former Presidents Park and Lee for corruption, but not okay to investigate Lee Jae-myung for arguably equal to or worse corruption:

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) staged a large-scale rally in central Seoul on Saturday to protest against the prosecution’s widening corruption probe into its embattled leader. 

Tens of thousands of party members joined the rally, as DP leader Lee Jae-myung is currently under investigation over corruption allegations surrounding a massive development project pushed for in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when he was the city’s mayor.

During the event, Lee accused prosecutors of hampering democracy by targeting him, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s former rival in the last presidential race. 

“Prosecutors are taking major posts in the government, and they are threatening people with arrest warrants, instead of soldiers’ guns and swords,” Lee said during his closing remarks. “Politics is giving its place to violent ruling.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this protests shows that Lee must think he is close to being charged and headed to jail.

It has always been pay to play in North Korea, so Lee had to have offered something to visit and it appears the offer was $3 million according to this guy:

An arrested underwear tycoon allegedly said he delivered US$8 million to North Korea in 2019 to help promote Gyeonggi Province’s smart farm project and then Gov. Lee Jae-myung’s visit to the North, informed officials said Tuesday.

Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group, who was nabbed in Thailand in early January after months on the run, reportedly made the controversial remarks during questioning by prosecutors in Suwon, 34 kilometers south of Seoul.

The Suwon District Court issued an arrest warrant for Kim on Jan. 20 on multiple charges, including embezzlement, bribery and the illegal transfer of cash to North Korea.

Previously, Kim told prosecutors that he only handed a total of over $5 million to North Korea on two occasions in 2019 to pursue economic cooperation rights involving the North.

As the prosecution presented other related documents, however, the underwear tycoon reportedly disclosed an additional remittance of $3 million to Pyongyang and the reasons for the cash payment, the officials said.

Kim allegedly said that $5 million was delivered in connection with Gyeonggi Province’s smart farm project in North Korea and the additional $3 million was intended to facilitate Lee’s visit to the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if Lee Jae-myung had won the presidency does anyone think any of this would have come out?