A supporter of Lee shed tears upon hearing the result in front of the National Aseembly Building.

Yoido, Korea (NJT) - The arrest motion against Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was approved.

On the afternoon of the 21st, local time, the South Korean National Assembly convened for its plenary session. The motion to arrest Representative Lee was approved with 149 in favor, 136 against, 6 abstentions, and 4 invalid votes out of the 295 members present. The vote was conducted anonymously.

For the arrest motion to pass, it requires more than half of the incumbent members to attend, with over half of the attending members voting in favor. The approval margin was slim, with just one more vote than the required 148.

After the first motion to arrest Representative Lee was rejected on February 27th, he publicly requested a rejection again but couldn't avoid approval this time. Currently, on his 22nd day of a hunger strike, he uploaded a plea from Green Hospital to his social media.

Experts suggest that approximately 30 members of the Democratic Party voted in favor, hinting at a de facto collapse in Lee's leadership. 

After the vote, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon stated in an interview with the press, "This system ensures that everyone, including politicians, undergoes judicial scrutiny just like any ordinary citizen."

A member of the opposition within the Democratic Party said in an interview, “Lee Jae-myung clearly risked the party's reputation with his legal troubles. There was a clear consensus that even if the party had to experience temporary division, the foundational trust in politics must be restored."

Supporters of Lee, gathered outside the National Assembly, expressed their outrage, demanding identification of the 30 Democratic Party members who allegedly betrayed Lee. One emotional supporter claimed, "Representative Lee fell victim to the machinations of a prosecutorial state. We will fight for him to the end." Many supporters were visibly distraught, hanging their heads or shedding tears upon hearing the results.

Lee, facing allegations like the 'Baekhyun-dong development favoritism suspicion' and the 'Ssangbangwool Group's suspected remittance to North Korea,' will now await a judicial review to determine his arrest.