SEOUL-- Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung claimed Thursday that he is being unfairly targeted for investigations into past corruption charges just because President Yoon Suk Yeol took power, once again decrying the probes as a "judicial hunt" against him.

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), made the remarks in a press conference held ahead of a vote at the National Assembly next week on the government's request for consent to his arrest over corruption allegations.

Lee faces corruption and bribery charges in connection with development projects and donations to a municipal football club dating back to his time as the mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010-2018.

Last week, prosecutors sought a warrant to arrest him, marking the first such move ever against a leader of the country's largest opposition party. The justice ministry has since asked for parliamentary consent to his arrest as required by law to detain a lawmaker while parliament is in session.

Lee has denied all the charges, claiming they are fabricated.

"This is what the government of Yoon Suk Yeol wants to do. To show Lee Jae-myung waiting before and after a court hearing on an arrest warrant, confined in detention, and to show him in handcuffs," Lee said.

"It's an age of violence where a judicial hunt in the mask of the rule of law has become part of everyday life. Politics has gone missing and an age of barbarism, where only domination is rampant, has come."

Lee claimed that the corruption allegations linked to the development projects and the municipal football club reemerged after last year's presidential election, arguing the probes are politically motivated.

"Nothing has changed in the case. I lost in the presidential election, a former prosecutor has become the president, and an atrocious situation has arisen," the opposition leader said.

Lee has been stepping up criticism of Yoon, and even called Yoon a "gangster" Wednesday.

The National Assembly is scheduled to hold a vote Monday on the government's request for consent to Lee's arrest. But observers say the request is unlikely to pass parliament as the DP has majority power, holding 169 out of the 299 seats.

The ruling party has urged Lee to give up his immunity from arrest, as guaranteed in law for lawmakers during a parliamentary term, and show up for a court hearing on the arrest warrant. It has also criticized the DP for opening temporary parliamentary terms to protect its leader from being arrested.

Source: Yonhap News Agency