The main opposition People Power Party(PPP) on Tuesday denounced the government and ruling Democratic Party(DP) for seeking to decriminalize breach of trust, calling it a scheme to protect President Lee Jae Myung.

PPP policy chief Kim Do-eup argued that the proposal had been designed to secure Lee’s acquittal in the Daejang-dong development scandal, in which he is charged with breach of trust.

Kim said South Korea's current law does not punish legitimate business decisions made in good faith and that the DP had been using fancy rhetoric to disguise its intent.

He warned that scrapping the provision of the Commercial Act criminalizing breach of trust would absolve corporate leaders who harm their companies, undermining accountability, and dismissed the DP's claims that doing so would improve South Korea’s business environment.

Kim added that the change would encourage moral hazard among entrepreneurs, harming companies, workers and retail investors.