Lee Jun-seok: "I Won't Flatter Yoon Seok-yeol in Politics... It's Not a Tug-of-War Issue"

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is announcing his position on the pardon of former President Park Geun-hye at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, stated, "If I had tried to curry favor with Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, to do politics, there would have been no 'Ulsan Agreement'."

On the 26th, Lee explained the reason for his sudden resignation from the position of standing election campaign committee chief in an interview with Yonhap News Agency held at the party leader's office in the National Assembly. Regarding the possibility of returning to the campaign committee, Lee drew a clear line, saying, "This is not a tug-of-war. I threw it away cleanly," and "I have no intention of participating in the campaign committee when my role has been publicly denied as nonexistent."

When asked, "Wouldn't it be a blow to politician Lee Jun-seok whether you win or lose the presidential election?" he replied, "I have no desire to be bound by Yeouido's rules. My sole goal is to make a successful president." He added, "When I was 27, I had a huge trauma from not knowing about Choi Soon-sil's existence in Park Geun-hye's campaign committee," and said, "There were strange things even then, but they were all cowardly." He continued, "The public relations director was saying strange things, and the standing election committee chief was in a situation where he could not issue any plans or instructions," and explained, "Candidate Yoon described the insubordination as democracy, but to me, it means the leader is unnecessary."

Regarding the so-called Ulsan meeting on the 3rd, Lee said, "We specified the main strategy to communicate with the 2030 generation and strengthen policy actions, and agreed among the leader, floor leader, and candidate to proceed with many tasks." He also criticized, "Regarding the ambiguous clause about party affairs priority, it was agreed that the candidate requests the leader, and the leader must follow unconditionally," but "none of these three major framework agreements have been kept."

Lee described the current People Power Party campaign committee system, saying, "It seems they want Kim Jong-in's name but do not want to give him space to work," and explained, "It is a structure where Kim Jong-in, the general election committee chairman, finds it difficult to actually have control." He added, "Kim chairman must be holding back a lot," and "The reason Kim strongly urged me not to resign was because he knew it would not be easy to fight alone against Yoon's core aides (Yoon's key associates) or unofficial advisors."

When asked if this means the campaign committee itself is being bypassed, he replied, "I think so," and "Everything is handled through unofficial advisors." Lee also said, "Candidate Yoon said he has no core aides and does not even go to work, but if he goes to work, he cannot be a core aide. If Choi Soon-sil had gone to work and held a position, she could not have been an unofficial power broker," and expressed suspicion, "I am doubtful whether the current campaign committee is really a plan to win the election or a plan for other political purposes."

Regarding Yoon's chances of winning, Lee pointed out, "It's embarrassing, but Yoon received vote deductions during the primary and, at this pace in the general election, he cannot win without scoring goals," and criticized, "There is no vote-gaining strategy, and almost no strategy to prevent vote deductions." When asked if Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung also has vote deduction factors due to the Daejang-dong scandal, he elaborated, "I am talking about the ability to respond (to vote deduction factors)," and emphasized, "Handling all situations is important."

On the issue of former President Park's special pardon, Lee said, "I clearly stated my position on impeachment during a speech in Daegu at the party convention. I intend to keep some distance." He also said, "Candidate Yoon will be more sensitive," but added, "However, as a prosecutor who investigated the state affairs manipulation, I think it should be clear," and emphasized, "The charges of state affairs manipulation against former President Park are very serious and should serve as a lesson for future politicians."

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