Time for lawmakers to return to their job

We hope both parties restore the economy and our politics before it’s too late.

The Seoul Central District Court has rejected the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung on corruption charges. After the decision, Lee can expect a consolidation of his power in the majority party, while a red light is on for the governing People Power Party (PPP). The prosecution’s plan to detain Lee to further investigate his corruption charges has hit a snag.

The judge handling arrest warrants based his decision on the lack of direct evidence and no need for his arrest as there is no possibility of destruction of evidence by the DP leader. But the judge’s decision is not related to whether or not Lee is guilty, but rather a legal procedure required to determine whether to detain him for a further investigation into his alleged involvement in a suspicions redevelopment project and the dubious remittance of $8 million to North Korea in return for favors.

In fact, even while rejecting the request for his arrest warrant , the court has left room for “considerable doubts about Lee’s decision as Seongnam mayor” to approve the mysterious redevelopment project. Over the charge that he had pressured a deputy Gyeonggi governor to tell a lie to the prosecution, the court also accepted it, partly.

Lee has just been cleared of the political burden of the prosecution’s investigation while detained, but it does not give immunity to his judicial risks. He has already been on trial for his alleged involvement in another redevelopment project as Seongnam mayor. Given the volatility of the trial, his cases certainly will not end soon. Over the past one year, the majority party under Lee’s helm has suffered massive damage from his own judicial risks — and from his unique fandom-based politics which takes advantage of his fanatical supporters. So the DP repeatedly pushed aside urgent bills related to people’s livelihood.

The DP and its leader must return to the role of a majority party from now after leaving his legal battle to the court. Lee must first put the National Assembly back on track as he has ended his suspicious 24-day hunger strike to “restore justice” in our society. If the party over-interprets the judge’s rejection of his arrest warrant and demands the resignation of all Cabinet members, voters will turn away form the party.

The PPP also must respect the court’s decision rather than criticizing the judge for lethargically “surrendering to Lee’s fervent followers.” If the PPP only bets on Lee’s judicial risks, that’s not a responsible attitude of the governing party. People are suffering from a deepening economic recession. We hope both parties restore the economy and our politics before it’s too late.