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| Reps. Hong Moon-jong, second from right, and Yeom Dong-yeol, second from left, wait for the result of a vote on their arrest warrants, in the plenary session Monday. / Yonhap |
'Druking' special probe, extra budget bills passed
By Choi Ha-young
The National Assembly has come under criticism for voting down arrest motions for two Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmakers facing corruption investigations, in a plenary session Monday.
In secret ballots, the motions on Reps. Hong Moon-jong and Yeom Dong-yeol were rejected by 141 and 172 out of 275 lawmakers, respectively. The prosecution can arrest a lawmaker while the Assembly is in sessions only if the arrest motion is approved by a majority of lawmakers.
On April 2, the prosecution sought an arrest warrant for Rep. Hong, over wide-ranging corruption allegations ― bribery, embezzlement and dereliction of duty. Rep. Yeom has been accused of illicitly recommending job candidates to Kangwon Land, a state-controlled casino, which also led to a warrant request, April 11.
However, the court has failed to review the warrants, since the LKP kept prolonging the parliamentary session. The LKP called for an extraordinary session in May, April 27, apparently to protect the lawmakers. The decision drew enormous fire, because the LKP was boycotting all legislative affairs as a part of its anti-ruling camp struggle.
Customarily, the prosecution used to seek arrest warrants for lawmakers during the parliamentary sessions, even though it can request the warrant when the session is over. It was widely considered as a tactic to shift the political burden of arresting lawmakers.
Because of the Assembly's repeated protections of "colleagues" accused of corruption, the parliament was nicknamed the "bullet proof Assembly." Reps. Hong and Yeom's cases were the 15th and 16th efforts to fend off arrest warrants for lawmakers.
This time, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers will likely face a mounting backlash. As DPK floor leader Hong Young-pyo admitted, at least 20 DPK members voted against the arrests.
"It was such an excuseless outcome," Hong said in a news conference after the outcome. "I never imagined a situation like this. I do not understand why some party lawmakers made such a decision against the party's official stance."
The two lawmakers' pleas may have affected the decision. Rep. Hong claimed his innocence, saying this is the prosecutors' "abuse of power" and "oppression against the opposition party." Rep. Yeom appealed to colleague lawmakers saying "my 13-year-old son is waiting for his father."
Meanwhile, the Assembly passed a special counsel bill to look into an online opinion-rigging scandal, as well as an extra budget bill aimed at boosting youth employment and supporting workers affected by the faltering shipbuilding and car manufacturing industries.
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