Lee Jun-seok "Leadership Controversy? Maybe Because I'm Young... It Didn't Happen During Kim Jong-in's Time"

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a greeting at an indoor athletes' meeting held on the 14th at a gymnasium in Wonju, Gangwon Province, to discuss measures to address the damage caused by COVID-19.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, expressed discomfort over the leadership controversy triggered by the reversal of the nationwide disaster relief fund agreement.

On the 16th, Lee appeared on KBS Radio's 'Oh Tae-hoon's Current Affairs Headquarters' and addressed the internal criticism regarding the near-agreement on 'nationwide disaster relief fund payment' during the ruling and opposition party leaders' meeting. He pointed out, "To be honest, when Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman, appeared to agree to the nationwide disaster relief fund last year, there was no backlash like this."

He was referring to the meeting on September 10 last year between Kim Jong-in, emergency committee chairman, and Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, where they agreed to "make efforts to provide disaster relief funds to many citizens before Chuseok."

Lee also criticized that the internal criticism was not solely based on political philosophy or economic perspectives. He said, "Maybe because I am the new leader and somewhat younger, but our party members do not always talk only about philosophy or from an academic perspective."

Earlier, on the 12th, Lee met with Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party, and agreed to work towards providing disaster relief funds to all citizens.

Following this, internal backlash continued, sparking debates over Lee's leadership and qualifications. Yoon Hee-sook, a party member who declared her presidential candidacy, criticized on her Facebook, "He betrayed the trust of many who expected new politics from a young party leader."

On the 13th, Yoon further criticized, "The problem with (Lee) is that he agreed to the 'nationwide money-spreading game' that has misled the public for four years," adding, "The sharpest weapon broken was not the opponent's but the collapse of our internal philosophy."

Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong also posted on his Facebook, stating, "The disaster relief fund issue arose because there was no philosophy focusing on survival funds for self-employed and small business owners," and criticized, "Lee's judgment is disappointing."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Lee explained the reversal of the nationwide disaster relief fund agreement. He said, "During the meeting with Leader Song, I first mentioned strengthening loss compensation and then considering nationwide disaster relief funds if there were remaining resources," adding, "Such procedures are common in negotiations."

He then targeted hardliners within his party. Lee said, "Of course, I have my own philosophy. But in a situation where the seat ratio is 180 to 100, if we do not actively engage in such negotiations, support for small business owners would not have been strengthened, and the disaster relief fund would have been paid 100% anyway," emphasizing, "There is no 100 to 0 in diplomatic negotiations, so politics must be conducted with that in mind."

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