Lee Jun-seok "Reason for United Party's Crushing Defeat, Impact of Controversial Remarks Was Significant"

"This General Election Fails to Highlight Policy Issues"

Lee Jun-seok, Supreme Council Member of the United Future Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on February 20. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung] Lee Jun-seok, a Supreme Council member of the United Future Party who ran for the Seoul Nowon-byeong district in the 21st general election but lost, assessed that the main reason for the party's crushing defeat was "the impact of the controversial remarks scandal."

On the 17th, Lee appeared on KBS Radio and said, "In other elections, policies were strongly highlighted, so voters judged based on policies, but this time, the issue of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was significant, so many voters were undecided until the very end," adding, "Voters needed a reason to vote for this party, and that reason was created by the controversial remarks incident."

When asked, "What is most necessary for the reform of the United Future Party?" he replied, "A party that is swayed by YouTubers at this level is no longer acceptable," and added, "To be frank, the party won in the main vote but lost in early voting in many places. I also received many votes in the main vote. That's why we lost."

He continued, "There are people raising suspicions about early voting," and said, "I want to ask them to please stop such claims."

He further stated, "Conservative YouTubers have said that since there are no closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) at early voting sites, the government could commit fraud there, so people should go to the main vote," and pointed out, "In reality, conservatives flocked to the main vote and did not go to early voting. Those who claim early voting is fraudulent are unable to accept defeat."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.