Lee Jun-seok "Thank you for Lee Jae-myung's election... 'Incompetence or corruption,' one will be caught in Daejang-dong"

"Lee Jae-myung Only Uses Metaphors, Fails to Address Core Issues"
Yoon Seok-yeol Defends 'Shaman Controversy' as a "Matter of Taste"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party (left), and Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea (right).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, recently commented on Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, saying, "Saying 'thank you' might be too blatant," but added, "From an election perspective, it's not bad."

On the morning of the 13th, Lee appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' and said, "Lee Jae-myung is a candidate who is generally recognized more for his work execution ability than for morality or character, but in the Daejang-dong case, he was caught in at least one of two: incompetence or corruption."

He continued, "If, as the person responsible for provincial and municipal administration, he failed to identify the blind spots in the Hwacheon Daeyu-style development, that would be incompetence. If, as is currently suspected, he was directly involved in designing and orchestrating the scheme, then it falls into the corruption frame," adding, "During the Seongnam mayoral and basic local government elections, he did not receive much attention, so proper verification was not conducted. This time, there is a lot to do," signaling a high-intensity verification process.

That afternoon, Lee continued his criticism of Lee Jae-myung on SBS's 'Joo Young-jin's News Briefing.' He said, "The core of the suspicion is immediately directed at Lee Jae-myung, but his remarks increasingly rely on metaphors and fail to address the core content," and criticized, "Bongo dismissal, forced confinement, Nobel and dynamite, KEPCO employees, and today, his father-in-law and daughter-in-law's house?I'm curious if this is normal language."

Meanwhile, Lee defended Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party's presidential pre-candidate, who has been embroiled in the so-called 'shaman controversy.' Regarding the relationship between Yoon and the shaman teacher Cheongong, Lee said, "(If it was just watching YouTube videos) that can be seen as a matter of personal taste," emphasizing, "Other than watching videos of the person called Cheongong, nothing has been honestly confirmed."

He added, "There is no evidence that Cheongong gave advice on the timing or direction of Yoon's major political moves," and said, "It seems suspicious because Cheongong keeps talking on broadcasts, but Yoon himself said, 'I did not listen to him regarding political moves.' If that is confirmed, it would be dangerous, but unless confirmed, it is not a big controversy."

Regarding former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in's role as a presidential kingmaker, Lee said, "Once the candidate is confirmed, we should go to serve him, and naturally, a situation should arise where appropriate respect and roles can be given."

On rumors about his own candidacy in Jongno District, Lee responded, "There is a scenario where I 'cannot resist the party's request and run,' but I am the party leader, so who would I be requesting from? Is it a self-request?" The seat in Seoul's Jongno District is currently vacant after former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon resigned from his parliamentary seat on the 15th of last month.

When the host asked again, "So you absolutely will not run?" Lee replied, "My opinion is clear, but the Democratic Party must also be considering candidates for the (Jongno) district. If I completely rule out the possibility of running, it might make it too easy for the Democratic Party to strategize, so I will leave the possibility open."

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