“Many people see the Democratic Party of Korea’s (prosecutor) impeachment as a build-up to refusing to accept the upcoming verdict (on Representative Lee Jae-myung).” (People Power Party Representative Han Dong-hoon)
“(Representative Han) talked about equality before the law, but in my view, there may be formal equality before the law, but it is unequal before the prosecution.” (Democratic Party Representative Lee Jae-myung)
The ruling and opposition party leaders engaged in a heated argument, targeting each other head-on from the opening remarks made public prior to the meeting held at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 1st. When Representative Han mentioned Representative Lee’s “judicial risk,” Representative Lee countered by pointing out the unfairness of the prosecution’s investigation and Representative Han’s attitude during the meeting.
Initially, the working-level agreement the day before set the total speaking time at 10 minutes, but Representative Han continued to speak for 13 minutes and 40 seconds, and Representative Lee continued to speak for 18 minutes and 20 seconds. The format was that the two people standing side by side each spoke from the podium.
● Lee “Even if I’m angry, I can’t even grab him by the collar”
The two representatives who came to the meeting for the first time had smiles on their faces until they greeted each other. Just like when he met with President Yoon Seok-yeol in April of this year, Representative Lee arrived at the meeting place three minutes early wearing a blue tie and a Taegeukgi badge to greet Representative Han. Representative Han, wearing a purple tie, the symbolic color of the People Power Party, entered the meeting place on time and shook hands, saying, “Nice to meet you.”
However, as soon as the opening remarks began, the two representatives continued their sharp remarks as if they had been waiting for it. Representative Han, who spoke first in accordance with the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, continued his 4,235-character speech, targeting Representative Lee, who is currently on trial for a total of four times, saying, “Let’s definitely implement the reform of giving up privileges that have already been sufficiently discussed and agreed upon by the public, such as the immunity from arrest and the return of expenses during the trial period.” He also mentioned the Constitutional Court’s unanimous decision on the 29th of last month to dismiss Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop, whom the Democratic Party had impeached, saying, “Many people see the Democratic Party’s series of impeachments against prosecutors involved in the investigation or indictment of Representative Lee and the Democratic Party as a build-up to refusing to accept the upcoming ruling.”
While listening to Representative Han’s speech, Representative Lee, who was taking notes, said when it was his turn to speak, “Personal respect for the other party is truly necessary. Nothing can be accomplished by pretending to respect and thinking that you have to take something from the other party.” A Democratic Party official said, “As a party negotiating politically, I was pointing out Representative Han’s attitude toward the meeting.” Representative Lee responded, “The discussion of the privileges of members of the National Assembly is important, but we must also approach the corresponding (non)prosecution right of the president from the same perspective. There is a very high risk that we will drift toward an administrative dictatorship.” Representative Lee read a 6,110-character speech centered on memos he had prepared that day, focusing on keywords. In his previous one-on-one meeting with President Yoon, Representative Lee read 10 pages of A4 paper that he had prepared in 15 minutes.
The two representatives then moved to the conference room and held a meeting for about 85 minutes from 2:41 PM to 4:15 PM, with the chief spokespersons and policy committee chairs of both parties in attendance. Before the meeting began, Representative Lee sat down at a prepared round table and said, “(Sitting on the table) I can’t even grab this guy by the collar,” causing laughter from the audience.
The two leaders spoke privately for about 45 minutes while the statement was being written. It is reported that the two representatives discussed regularizing future meetings during the private meeting, but failed to reach an agreement.
● Lee Jae-myung: “Martial Law” Yongsan: “False Political Offensive”
In his opening remarks, the representative said, “Recently, martial law talk keeps coming up. Looking at the previous martial law bill, there is talk that they planned to arrest and detain members of the National Assembly at the same time as martial law was declared in order to prevent the National Assembly from demanding the lifting of martial law,” and argued, “Isn’t this a perfect dictatorship?” Representative Han made a puzzled expression.
The Blue House also immediately dismissed it as an “absurdly false political offensive.” A senior Blue House official met with reporters and said, “Calling for martial law, which does not exist and which the government will not implement, can only be seen as a political offensive.” “Even if martial law is declared, it can be lifted immediately by the National Assembly, so it is nonsense. Looking at the current structure of the National Assembly (seats), it is obvious that martial law would be lifted immediately even if it were declared, and there would be a huge backlash, so why would they do it?”
Reporter Yoon Da-bin [email protected]
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2024-09-01 22:32:04