South Korea faces heightened political tension following the National Assembly’s decision on Thursday to approve a motion that could allow the arrest of main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung. The charges against Lee revolve around allegations of bribery, breach of trust and unauthorized financial transactions with North Korea during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam City and governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Lee, now on the 23rd day of his “indefinite” hunger strike, cites an assortment of reasons for his protest, including the Yoon administration’s economic policies and clampdown on press freedom, a lack of senior officials taking responsibility for last October’s Itaewon crowd crush disaster and the failure to oppose Japan’s release of its ALPS-treated contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.