Hearing to suspend DP chief Lee begins

In a hearing at Seoul Southern District Court, 679 DP members led by YouTuber Baek Gwang-hyun accused Lee of violating party rules calling for the suspension of party functionaries indicted for corruption.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung at a funeral of a construction labor union official Yang Hee-dong, who died after setting himself on fire in protest to the investigation against him for business obstruction and blackmail, in Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

A court hearing on whether to suspend Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung kicked off Thursday as the chief of the parliamentary majority party faces intense pressure over not only his own legal battles, but also a bribery scandal hanging over the party regarding its 2021 convention.

In a hearing at Seoul Southern District Court, 679 DP members led by YouTuber Baek Gwang-hyun accused Lee of violating party rules calling for the suspension of party functionaries indicted for corruption.

They argued that Lee is using his position as head of the DP to burden the party with his own personal problems, including an ongoing trial and prosecutorial investigations.

The plaintiffs accused Lee of trying to turn the party into his own personal property, infringing on democracy and the rights of party members.

Lee’s defense team reportedly argued that suspending Lee from his post even before the courts have ruled on his cases will cause major chaos within the party.

Lee’s team stressed that Lee should be allowed to continue to lead the party as there are major national issues to address, especially those closely connected to public livelihoods.

The injunction against Lee was filed in March.

“The party has stomped on Article 80 of the party’s constitution, the pride of the party and a symbol of the party’s morality, to protect leader Lee Jae-myung,” Baek said in March when filing the injunction with the court.

The YouTuber said he cannot agree with the party’s claim that the investigations into Lee represented political oppression against the opposition party.

“The charges for which Lee was indicted are all personal crimes,” Baek said.

Lee did not attend the first day of the hearing.

The DP, which holds the majority of seats in the National Assembly with 170 over the People Power Party (PPP)’s 115, has been under intense pressure.

Lee has not only been indicted for the Daejang-dong development scandal, in which Lee — then Seongnam mayor — is accused of using profits generated through favors given to private developer as political funds, but has also been implicated in alleged bribery related to corporate sponsorship of Seongnam’s football club, as well as the illegal wiring of money to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanction.

He has also been making weekly appearances in court to battle charges that he violated election laws by lying.

However, the party faces other troubles with former DP chief Song Young-gil implicated in a bribery scandal surrounding the 2021 convention in which he allegedly bought votes to become party leader.

Although Lee has yet to be implicated in Song’s case, which has so far led to the expulsion of two lawmakers, some party members have questioned his handling of the situation.

With reporters grilling Lee over his troubles, the DP chief has often deflected by pointing to controversies surrounding the rival PPP.

“He should have answered questions with sincerity,” DP Rep. Lee Sang-min said Thursday on a radio show. “Neither the media or the people will cheer the way he has responded.”

Another DP lawmaker, Cho Eung-cheon, criticized Lee’s behavior on Tuesday, saying it didn’t look good.

“It looked like an ostrich digging its head in the sand,” he said.

Kim Yong, the spokesman for the Gyeonggi government when Lee was the governor and a close confidant of the DP chief, was released on bail on Thursday.

He is the second confidant of Lee to be released on bail after Jeong Jin-sang, the reputed second-in-command in the Gyeonggi government during Lee’s term, was released in late April.

Both Kim and Jeong were implicated in nearly all the cases the DP chief is involved in, especially the Daejang-dong scandal.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]