hankyoreh

Leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party stands with members of his party in the plenary session of the National Assembly on Jan. 30 holding placards calling for a special prosecutor to be assigned to Kim Keon-hee. (Kim Bong-kyu/The Hankyoreh)

With prosecutors counting down to the arrest of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, the party has declared war on the Yoon Suk-yeol administration using every available means.

The party’s response has included calls for the impeachment of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, a special prosecutor to investigate allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon-hee, and various rallies outside of the National Assembly.

While the actions come across strongly as a reaction to the prosecutors’ over-the-top investigation tactics, they also expose the main opposition party to potential criticisms for choosing self-defense over popular livelihoods ahead of the parliament’s February extraordinary session.

“The abuses and tyranny of the Yoon Suk-yeol ‘dictatorship of the prosecutors’ administration are reaching new heights,” said Democratic Party Secretary-General Cho Jung-sik while speaking to reporters on Monday.

“At the party level, we plan to hold a ‘report to the nation rally’ this weekend in Seoul to denounce Yoon Suk-yeol’s prosecution dictatorship administration and the devastation of public welfare,” he added.

The rally in question is to be held at Sungnyemun Square in Seoul on Feb. 4, one day before the 100-day anniversary of the deadly Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon. This marks the first time since the Yoon administration took office that the opposition party is spearheading a large-scale outdoor rally.

“Under the Yoon administration, the prosecutors’ constant covering up [of allegations of Kim’s involvement in Deutsch Motors stock price manipulations] has the public calling strongly for a special prosecutor to investigate,” Cho explained.

“Not only that, but we’ve been seeing out-and-out disorder and a breakdown in governance with things like the exploding heating costs and other blows to popular livelihoods, the remarks about Iran being the ‘enemy’ of the United Arab Emirates, and the talk about having former President Lee Myung-bak be a special envoy to the Middle East,” he added.

Explaining that it was not currently embarking on a full-scale fight outside of parliament, the Democratic Party stressed that it would be adopting a “two-track” approach to its battle against the ruling People Power Party (PPP) while working officially to respond to the livelihood crisis.

But the prevailing view is that the upcoming rally in Seoul is meant as a warm-up for a full-scale struggle to come beyond the halls of the National Assembly.

In early February, the party also plans to embark in earnest on efforts to impeach Lee Sang-min and launch a special prosecutor’s investigation into the allegations against Kim Keon-hee — both matters that it had been pushing during the National Assembly’s regular session last year.

“There’s been a lot of anger toward the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and nowhere to express it, so a lot of party members are really asking why the party hasn’t taken action,” a member of the Democratic Party leadership told the Hankyoreh.

“Right now, we really need to start by rallying our forces within the party while answering our support base’s demands,” they stressed.

But even within the party, some have been voicing discontent over the leadership stepping up the battle against the PPP so sharply at a time when a motion for Lee Jae-myung’s arrest is expected to be presented shortly.

While there is a general agreement across the different wings on the need to launch a special prosecutor’s investigation into the Kim Keon-hee allegations, some are worried the timing could give the impression that the battle is meant to shield the party instead.

“There absolutely needs to be a special prosecutor for Kim Keon-hee,” said one second-term Democratic Party lawmaker who is not a member of the pro-Lee wing. “But is the public going to agree with rallies or a push for a special prosecutor when it comes across as having been motivated by the arrest motion for Lee Jae-myung?”

Also, some are questioning whether the public will accept the leadership’s talk about “making the February session a National Assembly that works to overcome the livelihood crisis” when the party has adopted hard-line measures amounting to an all-out war with the Yoon administration.

The PPP immediately went after the top opposition party for behaving “irresponsibly.”

Meeting with reporters on Monday, PPP floor leader Joo Ho-young said, “For the top opposition party to take its battle outside the parliament is to forsake its members’ duties as National Assembly members, which is undesirable and not something the public is going to agree with.”

The same day, Justice Party leader Lee Jeong-mi urged, “If [the Democratic Party] wants to avoid accusations of shielding itself, it ought to join forces with other opposition parties and boldly stake everything on passing livelihood-related legislation.”

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter; Joh Yun-yeong, staff reporter; Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter

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