Lee Jun-seok's New YouTube Channel 'Yeouido'... Cold Reception Within the Ruling Party "Stick to Your Own District"

Lee Jun-seok's 'Yeouido Reconstruction Association' New YouTube Channel
Kim Byung-min "Hope You Take Interest in Sanggye-dong Reconstruction"

Ahead of the general election, the ruling party's internal view of former leader Lee Jun-seok, who created a new YouTube channel called 'Yeouido Reconstruction Association' and began full-scale political activities, is unfavorable. Some criticize him to focus on the reconstruction of his original constituency, 'Sanggye-dong,' while others belittle the YouTube channel content as "meaningless shadow boxing."

On the 31st of last month, Cho Kyung-tae, a five-term member of the People Power Party, said on YTN's 'Shin Yul's News Face-off,' "It seems he thinks his political capabilities are so outstanding, but shouldn't he first focus on the reconstruction of his own constituency rather than Yeouido reconstruction?" He added, "He has lost three consecutive times in Nowon, his constituency, and has never been elected as a member of the National Assembly. Shouldn't he start reconstruction there first?"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Former leader Lee has kept his existing YouTube channel 'Sanggye-dong Lee Jun-seok' intact and created a new channel called 'Yeouido Reconstruction Association,' working together with Cheon Ha-ram, former chairman of the People Power Party's Suncheon Gap branch in Jeonnam, and Lee Gi-in, a member of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly. This is interpreted as aiming for political change in Yeouido ahead of the general election.

However, Representative Cho pointed out, "He should first become a member of the National Assembly. He has never been elected yet, so saying he will reconstruct Yeouido might be a show of confidence, but it could also sound somewhat arrogant. Even I, a five-term member, am staying silent."

He also expressed doubts about the impact. When the host asked, "Isn't gathering 10,000 subscribers instantly somewhat influential?" he replied, "Even far-right YouTubers have about 300,000 subscribers," adding, "Unless it’s a million, 10,000 is still small." Currently, the 'Yeouido Reconstruction Association' channel has about 16,200 subscribers, fewer than the 'Sanggye-dong Lee Jun-seok' channel, which has 30,000.

Kim Byung-min, a Supreme Council member, made similar criticisms. On SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' he said, "I hope he pays more attention to the reconstruction of his constituency, Sanggye-dong," adding, "Reconstruction is a very hot issue in places like Sanggye-dong and Nowon. I want to say that paying more attention to this approach is a crucial point for former leader Lee, who said he is sincere about Sanggye-dong in next year's general election."

In an interview on the 'Yeouido Reconstruction Association' channel, former leader Lee criticized the ruling party's move to amend the student human rights ordinance, stating, "The rule that people should not hit each other is a basic social rule," and raised his voice against solving problems through corporal punishment.

In response, Jang Ye-chan, the People Power Party's youth supreme council member, recently at the party's supreme council meeting, indirectly criticized Lee's YouTube remarks by saying, "No one has ever said that the revival of corporal punishment is the answer to restoring school authority. It is meaningless 'shadow boxing.'"

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