People Power Party Urges President Lee Jae-myung to Declare No Parole for Lee Hwa-young, Calls for Resumption of Ssangbangwool Remittance Trial

The People Power Party (PPP), at its Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 8th, pressed President Lee Jae-myung over his ties to former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Affairs Lee Hwa-young and urged the resumption of the President's trial over the Ssangbangwool remittance-to-North-Korea case.

Supreme Council member Shin Dong-wook recalled the scene from the July 2023 trial. "Everyone remembers that when Lee Hwa-young testified in court about her connection to then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, the governor himself showed up and shouted, 'Get a grip—is this Lee Hwa-young's trial or Lee Jae-myung's?'" he said. Supreme Council member Shin demanded: "I publicly call on President Lee: immediately declare that 'Lee Hwa-young will never be paroled.'" He went on to argue, "If he does not, it will amount to the President acknowledging that he was not merely an accomplice with Lee Hwa-young in the remittance case, but the principal perpetrator of the illegal payments to North Korea."

PPP Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won criticized Democratic Party Rep. Song Young-gil's appointment as Special Advisor to the President for Peace Diplomacy. "Rep. Song and others reportedly visited a prison to meet Lee Hwa-young. Just when we wondered where this peace diplomacy special advisor might go—perhaps North Korea—it turned out his peace diplomacy was with a convict behind bars," Kim said.

In a statement, PPP spokesperson Cho Yong-sul asked, "Just what kind of leverage does former Vice Governor Lee hold over President Lee that he can act with such brazen audacity?" adding, "Countless citizens are demanding the resumption of a trial that spares no one—not even the holder of absolute power."