Lee Jun-seok's Tearful Press Conference: "President Yoon Must Admit Mistakes After 17 Months in Power"

"People Power Party, Is It Difficult to Say It Is Not an Organization Subordinate to the President?"
"President Yoon Must Lift the Curse of Internal Criticism Within the Ruling Party"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok tearfully demanded a comprehensive reform of state administration from President Yoon Seok-yeol and the People Power Party on the 16th.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly that day, Lee criticized President Yoon and the ruling party's overall governance and urged them to "settle what one has caused" (結者解之, the person who caused the problem must resolve it).

Evaluating the defeat in the Seoul Gangseo District mayoral election, he said, "Every time the ruling and opposition parties' support rates in Seoul fluctuate back and forth, we spun hopeful scenarios saying Seoul is worth trying, but citizens without party allegiance thoroughly ignored the ruling party," adding, "The solution to all problems always begins with accurately facing reality and expressing it openly. Even after encountering the public's anger like this, is the party afraid to say that it is no longer an organization subordinate to the president and that the president's governance policy must change?"

Lee criticized the party for failing to raise its voice regarding issues such as the Marine Corps members who died while searching for flood victims without proper equipment, problems revealed during ministerial confirmation hearings, the relocation of Minister Hong Beom-do's bust, and cuts to the research and development (R&D) budget. He pointed out the atmosphere within the ruling party that calls for unity between the party and government, saying, "Even after suppressing all dissenting opinions to the extent that people say the culture of 'prosecutors as one body' has been implanted into politics, is the unity between the party and government still insufficient?" He emphasized, "We must first shed the contradictions born from prioritizing ideology over people's livelihoods and focusing on party control over policy."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the Gangseo District mayoral election, which ended in a crushing defeat for the ruling party, he said, "Instead of emphasizing that Gangseo District has many residents originally from Jeolla Province to deflect blame for the election loss, we must humbly reflect on why the grateful hearts that trusted and voted for the conservative party in the presidential and local elections have been hurt and alienated under this administration." He added, "During the Gangseo District mayoral by-election, instead of matching red clothes and having dinners in Gangseo District to report those achievements in reports, lawmakers should have debated and discussed to solve these livelihood issues. If that had happened, the election results would have been very different."

Lee urged President Yoon to make a decisive move.

He said, "Acknowledge the mistakes made during the past 17 months in power," and requested, "Express the president's sincere feelings vocally to the people, not through insincere anonymous interviews by presidential office officials."

Lee stated, "When many things were going wrong in the presidential election, 60 days were enough to overturn and achieve victory," adding, "If the ruling party reflects on its mistakes on its own and with the 180 days given to us, what kind of color can we paint? The start of that contemplation will begin with the president's decision and courage."

He also demanded that channels be opened to allow free expression of opinions within the ruling party. Lee warned, "You, who used the term 'internal stabbing' to block free expression of opinions within the ruling party, if you do not lift that curse yourself, no matter how freely people speak or pretend to change, people will not easily open their mouths, and that curse will torment the ruling party for a long time, just like the Bambino curse."

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