SEOUL -- Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung denounced the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for him Thursday, claiming the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol is using the prosecution for a "personal desire to remove a political enemy."

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), made the remark in an emergency meeting of the party's Supreme Council after the prosecution sought a warrant to arrest him over a development corruption scandal and bribery allegations.

"Today is the day when the Yoon Suk Yeol prosecutor dictatorship regime declared the privatization of prosecutorial power, and the rule of law collapsed due to a personal desire to remove a political enemy," Lee said during the meeting.

Lee said there is no reason for his arrest as he is not feared to flee or destroy evidence.

"The biggest-ever investigation wrapped up after more than 100 raids and questioning of hundreds of people. Is there any evidence left that can be destroyed?" he said, adding that he has complied with summons for questioning even though it was humiliating.

"This request for an arrest warrant will be recorded in history as an extraordinary incident," he said. "The prosecutor dictatorship regime, which neglects people's pain and abuses national power to remove a political enemy, will be judged by the people and history."

Lee said he will "resolutely confront" what he called an attempt to destroy the constitutional order.

Lee, who served as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010-2018, was charged with corruption allegations surrounding property development projects in Seongnam's Daejang-dong and Wirye districts and the city's municipal football club.

The DP also denounced the move as being aimed at oppressing the main opposition.

"This is unheard-of violence aimed at incapacitating the opposition party and removing a political enemy of the president," DP spokesperson An Ho-young told reporters. "We are enraged at the brutality of the Yoon Suk Yeol prosecution that dares to do without hesitation what even the military regimes did not dare to do."

The DP spokesman claimed that the arrest warrant request makes no sense as there is no evidence backing the allegations and Lee is not feared to flee or destroy evidence. He also noted that Lee has complied with summons for questioning.

"From now on, we are going to war with the Yoon Suk Yeol prosecution," An said. "Chairman Lee and the DP will unite without kneeling and fight together with the people to defend the truth and justice."

In what appeared to be a political tit-for-tat against the probes targeting its party leader, the DP has recently been stepping up its push to launch a special counsel investigation into a stock manipulation case allegedly involving first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Claiming that an independent counsel investigation is the only means to end the "double standard" of the incumbent administration, the DP has accused the prosecution and court of selectively siding to protect the president and his family members.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP), on the other hand, called on the National Assembly to consent to Lee's arrest, saying the prosecution has made a "logical conclusion."

According to law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliament is in session. The prosecution must obtain parliament's consent to detain lawmakers.

"The National Assembly should not become a refuge or a hideout for criminals anymore ... The National Assembly should uphold people's will and the rival parties should come together to endorse the motion to give consent to arresting Lee Jae-myung," PPP spokesperson Kim Mi-ae said in a statement.

PPP leader Chung Jin-suk called on DP lawmakers to vote according to their conscience, saying the current Assembly should not go down in history as a "sinner."

The minor opposition Justice Party, meanwhile, hinted at the possibility of voting for Lee's arrest, though it criticized the prosecution for lacking prudence.

"The Justice Party has maintained a consistent stance that everybody should be equal in front of the law and there should be no immunity from arrest," Kim Hee-seo, the party's spokesperson, said.

Observers say the arrest motion is unlikely to pass the parliament as the DP has majority power, holding 169 out of a total of 299 seats.

Source: Yonhap News Agency