South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for a former presidential candidate now leading the progressive opposition party over suspected graft, a move set to send shockwaves through an already bitter partisan political divide.
(Bloomberg) — South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for a former presidential candidate now leading the progressive opposition party over suspected graft, a move set to send shockwaves through an already bitter partisan political divide.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Thursday in a text message to reporters it asked a court for an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main Democratic Party. Lee would face charges including breach of duty and third-party bribery, it said.
Lee has said he is the victim of a political witch hunt aimed at removing an enemy of the president and denied any wrongdoing. He has been questioned by prosecutors extensively this year, telling reporters after a session in January that law enforcement authorities had already made up their minds to indict him and were not interested in the truth.
Lee’s party holds a solid majority in parliament and is expected to use that might to halt any arrest warrant from going forward for the time being, invoking a power the National Assembly has with regard to sitting lawmakers.Â
Prosecutors have been looking into Lee’s time as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010 to 2018, local media including Yonhap News Agency have reported.
Law enforcement authorities have been investigating whether about 17 billion won ($13.2 million) in corporate donations to a local soccer team came in return for administrative favors, Yonhap said.
The party leader is also being probed over a real estate speculation scandal that unfolded when he was mayor. Lee has denied any wrongdoing, while several people close to him have faced police investigation.
Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor, defeated Lee in a presidential election in March 2022 that was decided by the narrowest margin since the country’s advent to full democracy in the late 1980s.Â
Yoon’s office has denied claims of undermining the independence of the justice system. South Korean prosecutors don’t comment on the specifics of investigations.
The next parliamentary election won’t come until 2024, so Yoon and his conservative People Power Party could face gridlock for much of his single, five-year term. The progressive bloc led by the Democratic Party now has a large enough majority to block any of Yoon’s legislative initiatives and override any measure he may veto.Â
Read: Conservative Election Win in South Korea Signals Hawkish Turn
Conflict in the country’s bitter politics has intensified in recent months as prosecutors raided the headquarters of the Democratic Party and launched investigations against prominent members of the progressive bloc — which include Lee and a former defense minister.
Read: South Korea Partisan Rift Widens With Vote to Impeach Minister
Earlier this month, the opposition bloc used its majority in parliament to approve an unprecedented impeachment measure against the interior minister, Lee Sang-min, saying they saw his response as inadequate to a deadly crowd crush incident in October. The Constitutional Court will now decide if the impeachment was lawful and if the opposition bloc loses in court, it risks being seen by the public as abusing its authority.
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