Lee Jun-seok on Yoon's Statement: "Eom Seok-dae's Small World Has Collapsed"

"People Power Party, If Responding, Like Fanatics Inside Masada Fortress"

On the morning of the 7th, President Yoon Seok-yeol stated in a national address, "I will entrust the future political stability measures, including my term, to our party." In response, Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, described this as "Eom Seok-dae's small world has collapsed."

Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, raises both hands toward the People Power Party members during the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Immediately after the president's national address, Lee said, "Everyone who still talks about the order with him are accomplices of Eom Seok-dae who do not realize the homeroom teacher has changed," adding, "The moment the ruling party responds to this address, which is a dreadful hybrid of Eom Seok-dae, the Naked King, and Don Quixote cornered in a desperate situation, the People Power Party will look like fanatics trapped in the Masada fortress."

The Masada fortress was a stronghold of Jewish zealots (the Zealots and Sicarii) during the Jewish-Roman War. It was considered an impregnable fortress as it withstood attacks for a long time, but ultimately, not a single survivor emerged. When the crisis approached, following Jewish teachings that forbid suicide, they killed each other, and the last person set fire to the fortress, meeting their end. In the end, it was captured.

This is not the first time Lee compared President Yoon to Eom Seok-dae, a character from the short story "Our Twisted Hero," which depicts the military dictatorship era of the 1980s. In March last year, Lee also criticized President Yoon at the People Power Party convention, saying that Yoon's role as a "big hand" resembled Eom Seok-dae, a class president in the story who wielded absolute power in an elementary school class.

Meanwhile, after the president's national address, Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, distanced himself by stating immediately after the address, "It is impossible for the president to perform his normal duties, and his early resignation is inevitable." The Democratic Party of Korea announced that it might advance the vote on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. that day, to 5 p.m., two hours earlier than planned.

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