[Party Leader Interview] Lee Jun-seok "Unification with Ahn Cheol-soo, Isn't Politics Being Taken Too Lightly?"

"Unification of Seoul Mayor Candidates and Current Situation Are Completely Different Phenomena"
"Unification with Ahn Cheol-soo Judged as Settled for Now"
"Unification Should Not Influence Election Planning"
Yoon Seok-yeol Resolves Key Insider Issues... "Show Control Over Key Insiders"
"Expecting Strong Performance in Honam and 2030s... If Honam Exceeds 25%, It Will Affect Local Elections"

Lee Jun-seok, Leader of the People Power Party, Passion Train. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Miryang=Asia Economy reporters Naju Seok and Kwon Hyunji] "Unification is not about whether it should or should not be done with a sense of obligation, but about whether it can be done and how it will be done. (Now) I think it has been somewhat settled."

On the 28th of last month, during the ‘Passion Train’ heading to a campaign rally in Miryang, Gyeongnam, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, gave an exclusive interview to Asia Economy, evaluating the progress of unification negotiations between candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party. He said that they failed to achieve the desired outcome because they brought up the unification card with expectations but without possibilities or concrete methods. Perhaps judging that hopes for candidate unification faded as the presidential election approached, he also used the expression "somewhat settled."

Lee was initially negative about unification with candidate Ahn. This perception remained. He said, "During the last Seoul mayoral election, candidate Ahn expected to win and conducted a unification poll, but now, in a situation where he had no choice but to give up, it was a completely different negotiation," adding, "Don’t you think everyone thought politics too easily?" He continued, "I thought unification should not influence election planning," and said, "Before the candidate was decided, I used the term ‘broker’ to say not to do it because, in the end, it is important to show our candidate’s competitiveness and policy vision during the election, and if we get sucked into political engineering, nothing remains."

Lee Jun-seok, Leader of the People Power Party, Passion Train. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

As Lee feared, the unification issue still remains a major topic within the party. Candidate Yoon recently canceled all campaign schedules on the same day except for Pohang due to press conference schedules related to unification with candidate Ahn, and People Power Party lawmakers expressed at a party meeting that "unification is absolutely necessary." Lee said, "In the past, President Moon Jae-in and candidate Ahn had an infinite loop over innovation during their time in the Democratic Party," adding, "We cannot repeat that."

Regarding the revelation that Lee proposed a merger to the People’s Party during the unification negotiation dispute, he explained, "It was frustrating that this issue made things messy every election," and "I proposed a merger to put an end to it." He meant that rather than having disputes over unification every election, he tried to resolve it through a merger.

Lee Jun-seok, Leader of the People Power Party, Passion Train. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

◆"Jang Je-won is a Special Envoy, Not a Core Member"

Amid controversy over Yoon’s core aides (Yoon’s 핵관), People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won, who was said to be "leaving Yoon’s side," explained his role as a plenipotentiary during the unification negotiations. Lee said, "The official position of the election campaign headquarters was that we have competitiveness even without unification, so it was burdensome for someone holding a position in the headquarters to engage in unification negotiations," adding, "There was a consensus that someone with a special mission was needed, and Jang was assigned as a special envoy, not a core member, so there was no problem." He said, "Jang is the most favorable person toward candidate Ahn within the party and showed sufficient consideration for him," adding, "Who else could have conducted negotiations that even such a person couldn’t succeed?" This means Jang had no choice but to act as plenipotentiary, and this issue is different from the previous ‘core aide’ controversy.

Lee explained that the Jang controversy actually resolved the ‘core aide’ issue raised about candidate Yoon. He said, "What I felt watching the candidate closely was that he could be a very good mediator," adding, "Although it seemed at one point that Yoon’s core aides would act arbitrarily, in reality, they could not make key decisions." He continued, "Yoon shows complete control over his core aides, which is completely different from the Park Geun-hye administration when people were unaware and disappointed at the end of the term when Choi Soon-sil was revealed." Lee added, "As the presidential election moves into the main race, the candidate is coldly evaluating and selecting people, so I think there will be no worries."

◆"Changes in 2030 and Honam Will Be Painful for the Ruling Party"

Lee highly evaluated the possibility of regime change in this presidential election. He said, "Based on polling indicators, I think the election will be fought not just in a close race but with an advantage." Lee said, "While traditional support bases hold, political participation by the 2030 generation and changes in Honam will be a painful blow to the Democratic Party." Especially regarding Honam, he said, "If support for candidate Yoon rises by 25% or more in any of Gwangju, Jeonbuk, or Jeonnam, a major change will occur starting from the local elections." About Yeongnam, he said, "Although the consolidation is late, it is strengthening, and in the metropolitan area, I expect good results in Seoul." By generation, he analyzed, "Support for candidate Yoon is strong among those in their 20s, and the 30s will converge, while the 50s are about half and half." Currently, polls show candidate Lee strong in the 40s and candidate Yoon strong in the 60s and above.

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, who arrived at Miryang Station by the Passion Train, is giving a speech in the station square. / Miryang = Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Meeting Lee on the train, he had a hoarse voice and looked fatigued, perhaps due to the continuous hard schedule. However, after the train arrived at Miryang Station and he boarded the campaign vehicle, he raised his voice to start a speech, saying, "It’s been two weeks since the start of the campaign, and my throat hurts a lot, but can that compare to the pain I felt over the past five years under the Moon Jae-in administration?"

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