Rep. Lee Jae-myung says he would be exempted from trial if elected president

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung talks with employees over lunch during a visit to the Hyundai Motor manufacturing plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung talks with employees over lunch during a visit to the Hyundai Motor manufacturing plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on Thursday. (Yonhap)

Main opposition party Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Thursday suggested that South Korea's auto manufacturing powerhouses could combat US President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs if Seoul offers tax incentives to Korean car manufacturers to expand their production base on their home turf.

Lee, who leads the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said Seoul may introduce a new tax incentive to boost production in the strategic industry to ward off external threats and create domestic jobs, during his visit to Hyundai Motor's auto manufacturing factory in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. The plant in 2024 manufactured 3.2 million vehicles and exported over two-thirds of them.

"The United States is excessively pushing to protect domestic industries and create domestic jobs ... the political sphere should come up with an idea of what they could do to protect the domestic automotive industry," Lee said, as he held talks with Hyundai Motor President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Dong-seock.

"I came to think that we should introduce a tax benefit to scale up and support manufacturing in national territory for strategic industry (players)," he said, adding such a benefit could "boost domestic manufacturing and at the same time protect the national industry."

Lee's remarks come as Trump has continuously hinted at putting tariffs on cars not manufactured in the US. On Wednesday, Trump said cars would be among the range of goods on which Washington would announce new tariffs "over the next month or sooner."

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he intended to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported cars in early April, a significant increase from the current 2.5 percent.

At the meeting, Lee of Hyundai Motor said the company is under"various pressures from the United States regarding trade and commerce." Hyundai Motor runs a manufacturing factory in Alabama, and is poised to launch another operation in Georgia.

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung (left) and Hyundai Motor President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Dong-seock pose in front of the Ioniq 9, an all-electric SUV, during a visit to the Hyundai Motor manufacturing plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday. (Newsis)
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung (left) and Hyundai Motor President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Dong-seock pose in front of the Ioniq 9, an all-electric SUV, during a visit to the Hyundai Motor manufacturing plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday. (Newsis)

Presidential front-runner awaits verdict

Democratic Party Chair Lee, a two-term lawmaker, former Gyeonggi Province governor and Seongnam mayor, is considered the front-runner should suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

Yoon, who defeated Lee by a razor-thin margin of 0.73 percentage points in the 2022 presidential election, is accused of leading a self-coup by declaring martial law on Dec. 3.

Lee, however, could be ineligible to run for president should his suspended jail sentence from a lower court in November 2022 be finalized. Lee is accused of violating election law by making false statements while denying corruption allegations during the 2022 presidential election campaign period.

An appellate court trial is to wrap up on Feb. 26, heightening chances for the court to hand down its verdict in late March, according to the Seoul High Court on Wednesday.

But Lee said separately in a special TV debate aired on MBC Wednesday that he would no longer face trial in any criminal court proceedings once he gets elected president, should an early presidential election take place following Yoon's impeachment within the first half of this year.

Under Article 84 of the Constitution, a sitting president shall not be charged with a criminal offense during their time in office, except in cases of insurrection or treason.

The implication that the presidential immunity clause exempts a sitting president from an ongoing criminal trial while in office except in the above cases is the "majority opinion," according to Lee during the panel discussion with three academics titled "Korean Society in Crisis, Asking for Solutions," aired by MBC on Wednesday night.

Lee added he was optimistic that the appellate court would overturn the lower court's decision.


consnow@heraldcorp.com