Lee Jae-myung: "I Will Become a True Servant, Not a King"

"Dusted off like dust but no worries... Only trust the people"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 19th, "I will become a true servant, not a king."

On the same day, Lee met citizens in front of Galleria Department Store in Dunsan-dong, Daejeon, and said, "Politicians are not kings who rule over the people, but workers who work on behalf of the people."

Standing on a plastic box placed on the street, Lee gave an impromptu speech, emphasizing, "The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic. Sovereignty belongs to the people. All power comes from all the people." He added, "The owner of this country is the people, and those who work on behalf of the people are not ruling kings but must devote all given authority, influence, and capabilities solely for the people."

Seeming to be conscious of Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, Lee said, "Some people can break the law this much without any problem, but if I break it even by a speck, I cannot survive." Then, addressing the audience, he asked, "You didn’t come here because I told you to, right?" and added, "If I deliberately gather people and speak, it is considered a violation of election law, so I must not do even this much." The day before, Lee posted a photo on Facebook of Yoon meeting citizens in Pohang without wearing a mask, writing, "There are so many cases of Yoon violating quarantine guidelines by not wearing masks that it is difficult even to point them out."

Lee said, "I do not take off my mask to show my face to you," and added, "I have lived without a single flaw or speck of dust, throwing my whole body into the fight just to survive and fight against them." He continued, "When I went home yesterday, a bunch of papers and mail had arrived again," mentioning, "They say they have hacked your accounts, securities, insurance, and banks, piling up one after another."

Lee stated, "Just like in the past decades, I have been shaken off like dust, and even now I am being shaken off thoroughly, but I am not worried at all," and said, "If there had been even a tiny flaw, I could not have survived fighting during the Gwanghwamun sit-in protests under the 'Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye' administrations."

Lee asked the citizens, "Please give me an encouraging round of applause," and the citizens cheered, chanting "Lee Jae-myung." He referred to himself as "a person with no academic background, no regional ties, no money, no organization, no political backing, nothing," and said, "Coming this far alone was possible because each and every one of you here, the people, led me."

Lee said, "If I do not trust the people, then who else can I trust?" and added, "No matter what difficulties arise, I will trust only the people, the people who have eyes and ears, who have 50 million mouths to communicate, and collective intelligence, and I will move forward straight ahead as I have done so far."

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