Seoul Sep 27, by Park Boram
During the morning session of the hearing, prosecutors reportedly highlighted the seriousness of the charges and concerns of destroying evidence as they made a case for Lee's arrest, while Lee's lawyers claimed he is not a flight risk and thus arresting him for investigation is unnecessary.
The court rejection is widely expected to bolster Lee's standing in the party in the run-up to the general elections in April and would lead to a massive blowback against the government.
By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliamentary is in session unless the National Assembly passes a motion giving its consent to the arrest, a measure intended to shield lawmakers from political persecution.
Last week, the National Assembly voted to lift the opposition leader's arrest immunity in a surprise, narrow 149-136 vote attributed to a number of dissenting ballots from his own party that commands a majority of parliamentary seats...
The Yonhap article describes this as Lee averting "...the biggest crisis yet for the former presidential candidate." This is a crisis for South Korea as a "democratic" state. Lawyers noted before the hearing that there is no physical evidence, only statements of witnesses, which one witness in relation to a charge this morning in this case, noted was coerced by adamant prosecutors that he publicly regrets making. This is part of a pattern by Han Dong-hun/ Yoon Seok-yeol directed political prosecutions. The purpose is to persecute the opposition, not to enforce the law. So far, the judges in Lee's cases have demonstrated "noon chi" a kind of political intuition, knowing that jailing Lee on such flimsy evidence would rip South Korea apart politically.
I understand Lee had to be transported to the Seoul jail while he was waiting for the court's decision, where he was stripped searched, fingerprinted, stood for a mugshot, etc. They probably forced him to wear the prison jumpsuit. This is from the police description of what they said they would do as "standard procedure" while waiting for the court order. Lee is going back to Green Hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, this short video below (in Korean) displays virtually the entire South Korean OOB. One interesting aspect is that the organizers used AI (augmented reality?) to depict a South Korean Aegis class destroyer sailing down the main drag between the high rise buildings. (I think this is Sejongno in Seoul). One report said the Armed Forces Parade went from Gwanghwa Plaza to City Hall.
The parade celebrates the 75the Anniversary of the ROK Armed Forces. An administrative unit from the US 8th Army participated in the parade, said to be 300 in number. They appear briefly near the end of the video. The AI depiction of the ROK destroyer appears at 01:11. The video is under two minutes long. Similar technology exhibited at the Asian Games opening in China a few days ago. Yoon is on a power trip. This parade is to distract the public from his administration's incompetence, oppression and disadvantageous foreign policy, while attempting to glorifying himself with "patriotic" credentials.
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