Are more severe storms still to come? , Li Zaiming escaped, the court rejected the arrest warrant for the party leader | Li Zaiming | Court

On the 27th, a major decision by the South Korean court pulled Lee Jae-ming back from the edge of the cliff.

On the same day, the Seoul Central District Court in South Korea rejected the prosecutor’s application for arrest of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the largest opposition party, and decided not to approve the arrest. This decision means that Lee Jae-myung and his Democratic Party of Korea have escaped the most significant crisis currently facing them.

However, as far as Korean politics is concerned, the drama from hunger strike to manhunt does not seem to be over yet. Before the congressional election next April, the fierce political battle may have just begun.

According to the "Global Times" report, at about 3 a.m. on the 27th local time, the Seoul Central District Court announced the results of a review of the necessity of Li Zaiming's arrest and announced that it would reject the arrest warrant against the latter.

The judge said, “Taking into account the need to protect the suspect’s right to defense and the possibility of destroying evidence, it is difficult to believe that there is reason and necessity to arrest him.”

The court's rejection decision traveled a long distance before arriving in the early morning - from the morning of the 26th to the early morning of the 27th, it took more than 9 hours of court hearing and more than 7 hours of deliberation.

September 26 was a historic day in South Korea - the leader of the largest opposition party appeared in court for the first time to undergo a review on the necessity of arrest. The results of the review will not only affect the political future of the party leader himself, but will also affect the direction of South Korea's political situation.

That morning, Li Zaiming, who had just stopped his hunger strike for three days, appeared in court. He was holding a cane in one hand and an umbrella in the other. His face was haggard and he walked a little shaky.

Facing the reporters who were chasing him, he remained silent and did not answer any questions.

During the next more than nine hours of court proceedings, Li Zaiming and the prosecutors launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle over relevant issues.

Lee Jae-myung is currently under judicial investigation involving the case of allegedly helping developers benefit from housing construction and development projects when he was the mayor of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, and the case of remittances to North Korea when he was the governor of Gyeonggi Province.

The prosecutor produced an opinion letter of about 1,600 pages, detailing Li Zaiming's various suspicions and emphasizing the need for arrest, including that the charges against Li Zaiming were serious and evidence might be destroyed.

In this regard, lawyer Li Zaiming emphasized that he is not a flight risk, and that he is in poor health due to his hunger strike for many days, so there is no need to arrest him for investigation.

The review time of more than 9 hours is considered to be the second longest since South Korea established the system in 1997, exceeding the review time of the arrest necessity of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

After that, after more than seven hours of deliberation, the court finally made a decision to reject the arrest at about 3 a.m. on the 27th.

According to CCTV News citing South Korean media, prosecutors have conducted more than 300 seizures and searches in the past two years regarding Li Zaiming’s suspected real estate corruption cases, and have obtained a large number of statements from people involved. As the current leader of the largest opposition party, Li Zaiming has been under investigation. There was no possibility of escape during the investigation and trial that the party requested to attend, which was also one of the grounds for the court to reject the arrest warrant.

Outsiders believe that the court's rejection of the arrest warrant against Lee Jae-myung means that Lee Jae-myung and his Democratic Party have avoided the most serious crisis they are currently facing.

For Li Zaiming, he has temporarily survived the darkest moment of his political career.

The past month may have been the most dangerous month that Lee Jae-myung has experienced since he entered politics.

He started a hunger strike on August 31 to protest against the policies of South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue; on September 18, he was sent to the hospital due to deterioration of his health, and received an arrest application approved by Yoon Seok-yue on the same day; and on September 21, he was attacked by many local people. The "backstabbing" of party members caused the South Korean National Assembly to vote and pass a motion to agree to the arrest request, and was deprived of the immunity enjoyed by members of the National Assembly. On September 23, the 24th day of the hunger strike, the hunger strike was finally stopped at the strong request of the medical team. On September 26, the court rejected the arrest warrant and he finally escaped death.

On the one hand, the hunger strike is hurting his body, and on the other hand, the pursuit is threatening his career. Now Li Zaiming is finally out of danger on both sides. Outside analysts believe that getting rid of the detention crisis will consolidate his leadership position within the Democratic Party.

For the Democratic Party, what was probably the party's most significant factional split was averted.

Previously, the National Assembly passed a resolution approving the arrest of Lee Jae-myung by a narrow margin of 149 votes to 136, exposing the rifts within the party.

Originally, with its 168-seat majority, the Democratic Party could completely veto the bill. However, due to the rebellion of some members of the Democratic Party of Korea, the bill finally passed the Congress.

This result is considered to highlight the sharp contradiction between the pro-Lee faction and the anti-Lee faction within the party.

Afterwards, the parliamentary leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea resigned en masse to show that they were solely responsible for the passage of the bill.

For this reason, the Democratic Party of Korea is also paying close attention to the results of the court review on the 26th. Once the court approves it, it will be a huge disaster for the party.

Now, the Democratic Party can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

On the 26th, Hong Yi-pyo, a member of the party, was elected as the new whip to lead the Democratic Party’s congressional caucus. Hong Yi-pyo is regarded as a policy expert with reform tendencies and strongly supports party leader Lee Jae-myung within the party.

Some analysts pointed out that after Lee Jae-myung escaped from danger, the conflicts within the party may temporarily subside. Next, the Democratic Party's focus will turn to how to unite the party, reshape its leadership, and concentrate on preparing for the congressional election next April.

Although the arrest crisis has come to an end, outsiders believe that as next year's congressional elections approach, the political struggle between South Korea's ruling and opposition parties may become more intense.

According to Korean public opinion analysis, the court's rejection of the arrest warrant is not a final verdict on Lee Jae-myung's guilt or innocence in the case. South Korean political circles will still launch an offensive and defensive battle around Lee Jae-myung's judicial risks in the future.

Before next year's congressional elections, this incident will have a great impact on the fate of the two major political parties. Therefore, the attention of South Korean political circles will not only focus on whether Lee Jae-myung is arrested.

On the same day, after the court dismissed the arrest warrant against Li Zaiming, the prosecutor stated that it would conduct further investigation into the criminal charges against Li Zaiming so that he could receive the punishment he deserved.

Justice Minister Han Dongxun also said that the court's rejection of the arrest warrant does not mean that Lee Jae-myung is innocent. The arrest warrant is just one step in the criminal investigation and prosecutors will continue their investigation and will not be affected by the court's decision.

In the future, prosecutors may apply for arrest approval against Li Zaiming again. For Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party of Korea, although they have escaped, it does not mean that they can rest easy.

However, the Yoon Seok-yue government and the ruling party, which are launching an offensive against Lee Jae-myung, may also encounter "headwinds." Some analysts pointed out that after Lee Jae-myung experienced this difficulty, he would launch a fierce counterattack against Yin Xiyue in the future.

It is worth noting that just after Lee Jae-myung’s arrest warrant was dismissed, South Korea’s ruling National Power Party canceled its original schedule that day and held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.

In short, no matter what the outcome is, South Korea’s political arena may be facing a more violent storm in the future.