In a stunning development, South Korea’s National Assembly voted last week to strip Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung of his parliamentary immunity from arrest, in part over allegations that he helped to illegally send millions of dollars to North Korea to secure permission to visit.

On Wednesday, Lee narrowly avoided being detained when a Seoul court rejected prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant.

But the DP leader still faces criminal charges over the remittance scandal and other alleged crimes, and his legal troubles have broad implications for South Korean domestic politics, setting up an intra-party battle over leadership of