Lee Jun-seok "Not even Daegu, threatening with Nowon-byeong nomination? Ignorant talk"

Former People Power Party Leader, YTN Radio Interview
"Winning Nowon District is My Top Priority and Greatest Honor"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok recently explained the meaning behind his statement "I will act before dying a sudden death" by saying that he does not intend to drag out the nomination process for Nowon-byeong, a constituency considered unfavorable for ruling party figures in the opposition's stronghold.

On the 19th, Lee appeared on YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' and criticized, "The leadership in Yeongnam and Gangwon mistakenly believe that once they receive the nomination, they will win, so they try to judge everything with their own mindset. Using Lee Jun-seok's nomination status as a major bargaining chip is absurd, and every time they mention it while worrying about Lee Jun-seok, candidates in the Seoul metropolitan area drop out in droves."

He continued, "When former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min applied for nomination, the pro-Park (true pro-Park Geun-hye faction) held onto Yoo until the end, wavering on whether to give him the nomination, but that was for the Daegu Dong-gu-eul nomination," adding, "Nowon-byeong is actually the place where I have achieved the highest vote share in history. Everyone knows Nowon-byeong is a stronghold of the Democratic Party, so I do not intend to prolong the nomination process for Nowon-byeong."

Former Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee said, "Of course, it is always an honor to run representing the party," but added, "Currently, many candidates running in northern Seoul are worried about how to differentiate themselves from the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. They are in a situation where they must say 'I am different' to win, but going on broadcasts and blabbering 'If you don't listen to us, we won't give you the nomination' is just ignorant."

Regarding rumors of running in the Daegu·Gyeongbuk region, he responded, "I have been saying this for two or three months, but as someone with recognition and responsibility in the party, my first priority and greatest honor is to run and win in a difficult place like my hometown, Nowon-byeong." However, he also claimed, "I am not the variable here; rather, it is more burdensome that the party keeps bringing up things that negatively affect the Seoul metropolitan area elections. All other candidates in the metropolitan area are saying, 'Can't you just stay quiet?'"

Lee criticized, "In the first election in 2016, I ran at the party's request against the vigorous lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. The second time, I ran as a candidate of the third party, the Bareunmirae Party, and received the highest vote share among all Bareunmirae Party candidates nationwide. The third time, I won the main vote but lost the early vote, and after the election, countless people claimed election fraud and ruined the local atmosphere." He also said, "In the 2020 election, I ranked about third in vote share among 30 constituencies in the Gangbuk area, but the ridicule I received was, 'Why have you lost three elections?'"

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