Jang Dong-hyeok says Lee ordered prosecutors to drop his trials, calls it 'brazen intimidation'

People Power Party standing campaign committee chairman Jang Dong-hyeok

Remarks made at final central campaign committee meeting at the National Assembly

People Power Party standing campaign committee chairman Jang Dong-hyeok said Tuesday that President Lee Jae-myung's recent remarks to prosecutors — that they should "apologize and withdraw" if they made mistakes — amounted to a direct order to drop the trials against him.

"This is brazen intimidation to have his own trials erased — the worst kind of arrogance from someone who no longer cares what the public thinks," Jang said at the party's final central campaign committee meeting at the National Assembly. "He's essentially telling prosecutors to cancel the trials on their own, because even a special prosecutor process is too much of a bother."

Jang also took aim at President Lee's remarks at a Cabinet meeting the previous day, Monday, in which Lee warned prosecutors not to "fall into the trap of infallibility." Jang said, "Isn't Lee Jae-myung himself the worst troublemaker who has destroyed the judicial order and plunged South Korea into systemic failure? Lee Jae-myung is himself an error in the Republic of Korea."

Jang further accused the president of flouting his duty to remain neutral during the election campaign. "Lee Jae-myung brazenly kicked aside his obligation of neutrality as president, traveled the country campaigning, and walked out of a polling booth waving his marked ballot in front of cameras," he said. "Every night, under the guise of encouraging voter turnout, he was agitating people to vote for the Democratic Party."

"Each and every one of these acts constitutes a serious illegal offense that is grounds for impeachment," Jang said. He added that the president's conduct reflected "extreme arrogance — the belief that no one can touch him because the government, the National Assembly, and the judiciary are all in his hands."

Jang also accused the president of threatening broadcasters, saying Lee had suggested that outlets he described as acting like "party mouthpieces" could face disadvantages at license renewal. "He's essentially threatening to shut them down with his own hands if they don't follow orders and run pro-Lee coverage," Jang said. "Has there ever been a more arrogant president in the constitutional history of the Republic of Korea? I urge the public to check and stop him."

dandy@heraldcorp.com