Choi Soo-jin, Senior Deputy Spokesperson for the People Power Party. Provided by the People Power Party.

The People Power Party on the 16th characterized the Democratic Party's move to pursue alternative legislation for the crime of breach of trust under the Criminal Act as an attempt to abolish the crime of breach of trust, and claimed it was "shield legislation for President Lee Jae-myung."

In a statement, Senior Deputy Spokesperson Choi Soo-jin said, "The Democratic Party and the government are pushing for the abolition of the crime of breach of trust, citing the argument that it would hinder business activities. However, rather than economic revitalization, it is more persuasive to view this as 'shield legislation' directly linked to President Lee's legal risks."

He pointed out, "The core charge in the Daejang-dong development corruption case for which President Lee was indicted is precisely 'breach of trust.' If it is clearly a breach of trust, it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that they are trying to eliminate the crime of breach of trust itself. Is it a normal country to abolish the crime of an entire category of economic offenders for breach of trust in order to eliminate one's own legal risks?"

He added, "The crime of breach of trust is the minimum safeguard to protect the public's assets and the assets of corporate shareholders. The government and the ruling party should honestly admit that the abolition of the crime of breach of trust is customized legislation for President Lee's defense and withdraw it."

Spokesperson Cho Yong-seul also stated in a commentary that the Democratic Party's push to reform the crime of breach of trust is "nothing short of an open declaration of intent to create a law to escape conviction for the Daejang-dong case."

Spokesperson Cho argued, "The Daejang-dong case alone is a typical 'breach of trust gate' that has caused hundreds of billions of won in damages to the public. Going a step further from 'waiving the appeal,' it is no exaggeration to say that the abolition of the crime of breach of trust is a declaration of 'waiving the recovery' of the unjust profits of the suspects."

Rep. Na Kyung-won, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said at a press conference at the National Assembly, "The attempt to abolish the crime of breach of trust is an overt escape attempt to erase the crime of 400 billion won theft by the accomplices in the Daejang-dong case, and it must be stopped." He added, "We must track down and recover the 400 billion won theft by the accomplices to the end and hold them accountable."

He further argued, "Not only should the assets of the Daejang-dong trial defendants, including President Lee, be provisionally attached, but criminal proceeds should be actively recovered through the provisional attachment of the claims for the return of preserved assets by the accomplice defendants."

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