'Stealth', 'Seondae-wi Crisis' Lee Jun-seok's Deviation: Benefit or Harm to Regime Change?

'Resignation of the Presidential Campaign Committee' Followed by Continued Criticism Targeting Yoon
"To the Public, It Only Looks Like a Fight Over Rice Bowls," Criticism of Lee Also Within the Party
Experts Say "If Yoon Fails to Win the Presidential Election, Lee Joon-seok's Personal Politics Will Also Fail"

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference regarding his position at the party leader's meeting room in the National Assembly on the 21st. Lee is in conflict with Cho Soo-jin, the chief spokesperson of Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential campaign headquarters and a Supreme Council member. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] With about 70 days left until next year's presidential election, internal conflicts within the People Power Party have reached their peak. Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, continues to sharpen his criticism toward party insiders who have been in conflict with him even after voluntarily resigning from his position as the standing co-chairman of the party's election committee. Although he strongly expressed the need to reorganize the election committee for victory in the presidential election, there are growing voices criticizing his autocratic attitude of immediately stepping down if his opinions are not accepted.

On the 21st, Lee resigned from all positions he held in the election committee and stepped down. The trigger was a clash with Supreme Council member Cho Soo-jin over media response during a closed meeting of the election committee on the previous day (the 20th). The essence of the conflict lies in the difference in stance between Lee and presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol regarding the command system and leadership of the election committee.

Regarding his resignation from the election committee, Lee explained in an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 23rd, "I judged that there was no role I could play," adding, "After the Ulsan agreement, candidate Yoon said, 'If Lee Jun-seok says go, I will go; if he says don't, I won't. If he says do, I will do; if he says don't, I won't.' To me, that symbolized granting him full authority within the election committee. It meant that in urgent times, decisions would be based on Lee Jun-seok's judgment, but that disappeared."

At the end of last month, when the controversy over 'bypassing the party leader' arose, Lee suddenly cut off all contact and went into 'seclusion.' It was reported that the reason was that candidate Yoon made personnel decisions for the election committee without consulting the leader, and so-called 'Yoon core members' (key figures close to Yoon Seok-yeol) sowed discord between the leader and candidate Yoon. Although Lee and candidate Yoon reconciled dramatically at a meeting in Ulsan earlier this month, the situation deteriorated again just 18 days later.

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, held a meeting with local reporters at Jeonbuk National University in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do on the 22nd. / Photo by Yonhap News

There are criticisms that candidate Yoon bears significant responsibility for not taking a more active role in resolving the internal conflict within the People Power Party. Regarding the conflict with Supreme Council member Cho, which triggered Lee's resignation, candidate Yoon responded by saying, "There can be differences of opinion within the election organization. This is democracy," downplaying the issue. Even three days after Lee's resignation, on the 24th, candidate Yoon showed no clear moves to resolve the situation.

However, regardless of the reasons, at a time just before the presidential election, the party leader exposing internal problems without filtering and resigning from the election committee position is criticized as irresponsible behavior. Even after stepping down from the election committee, Lee has appeared on various broadcasts, pouring out critical messages targeting candidate Yoon. Despite prioritizing 'winning the presidential election' as the top task, there are criticisms that he is only obsessed with personal emotions and grievances.

Within the People Power Party, there were also calls for Lee to exercise restraint. Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won criticized in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' saying, "It feels like the election committee is not gathered to ensure the presidential candidate's victory but rather to cause defeat," adding, "Appropriate measures should be taken quickly to move forward. If they try to escalate the situation and overturn everything, the election will already be over."

Assemblyman Park Soo-young demanded the resignation of the entire party leadership, including Lee, in a post on Facebook, saying, "I am sorry and ashamed to the people. It is devastating. The composition of the election committee and who is in or out ultimately looks like a fight over spoils to the public."

He raised his voice, saying, "We should refrain from criticizing each other’s discord on social networking services (SNS). Doing so will only result in losing the public's expectations and support. Please, let's solve this through direct dialogue and discussion."

Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy analyzed Lee's resignation from the election committee, saying, "It is not good to see Lee suddenly going into seclusion earlier this month, then dramatically resolving the conflict, and shortly afterward acting similarly again. However, it seems that Lee was frustrated with the election committee not functioning properly and, fearing that candidate Yoon's approval ratings would drop further in this state, he is trying his best for regime change in his own way."

He added, "It is not wrong to say that Lee is 'doing his own politics,' but this is closely related to candidate Yoon's victory in the presidential election. If they fail to win this election, Lee's own politics will also fail."

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