"Then Up to Here" Lee Jun-seok Missing Contact... Kim Ki-hyun Says "He Drank a Lot the Day Before"

Lee left a message on SNS the day before saying "Then this is it"
Kim Ki-hyun said "It seems Lee Jun-seok is wandering after drinking a lot"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, and Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] After Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, left a cryptic message and canceled all his schedules, cutting off contact, testimony has emerged that he was heavily intoxicated the previous day.

Kim Ki-hyun, the floor leader, told reporters after the floor strategy meeting on the 30th, "It seems (Lee Jun-seok) is completely lost. I heard he drank a lot yesterday," adding, "I don't know if there was an accident, but we need to take measures."

Earlier, on the 29th, Lee posted on his Facebook without any explanation, "^^ Then this is it." He also uploaded the emoticon '^_^p' without further comment.

This led some to interpret that amid escalating controversy over 'party leader bypassing,' he might have made a significant decision such as not attending the election campaign committee.

Subsequently, the People Power Party announced around 8 a.m. that Lee's scheduled attendance at a media forum at 9 a.m. was canceled. Then, around 11 a.m., the party leader's office announced, "All official schedules of Leader Lee Jun-seok have been canceled from today onward."

Originally, Lee was scheduled to attend the Korea Agricultural Management Association Central Federation commemorative ceremony and a radio interview in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, it is known that Lee was having a drinking gathering with first-term lawmakers of the People Power Party when he posted the message. One lawmaker who attended the gathering responded to the question of whether Lee was intoxicated at the time by saying, "I cannot judge."

It is reported that even now, no one within the party knows where Lee is staying. His mobile phone is also turned off.

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