Cheon Ha-ram "Lee Jun-seok Shows Presidential Candidate Qualities by Winning in His District"

Cheon Haram, the General Election Countermeasures Committee Chairman of the Reform New Party, evaluated on the 11th that Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the Reform New Party, who was elected in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, "showed the qualities of a presidential candidate." Chairman Cheon held a briefing at the Reform New Party's comprehensive situation room set up in the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, "Leader Lee achieved an incredible constituency victory that no one expected," and "With this, Leader Lee has clearly demonstrated the qualities of a presidential candidate."

As of 2:48 a.m. that day, with 99.6% of the votes counted in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Leader Lee secured 51,759 votes (42.49%), defeating Gong Young-woon, the Democratic Party candidate, who received 48,294 votes (39.65%), by a margin of 2.84 percentage points, confirming his election. After Leader Lee's election was confirmed, Chairman Cheon bowed his head and said, "Thanks to the great Hwaseong voters who supported the individual rather than the party, the Reform New Party has established a turning point to grow by having a young leader, and I am very pleased," adding, "I pay my respects and sincerely thank the Hwaseong voters."

Cheon Ha-ram, the General Election Committee Chairman of the Innovation Party, is holding a press conference after Lee Jun-seok's victory speech broadcast in the early morning of the 11th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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He continued, "This election victory not only brightly ignited the Reform New Party's brightest flame but also showed great hope for the third political force in our country," evaluating Lee's election as "a historic event demonstrating that with competitive individuals, it is possible to break through hope without relying on the two major entrenched parties."

Chairman Cheon also said, "Our Reform New Party has become a party with a wonderful and young presidential candidate who can be Korea's Emmanuel Macron," and "Thanks to the great voters of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, who supported the individual rather than the party, the Reform New Party seems to have established a significant turning point for further growth." He added, "With Leader Lee's election, our Reform New Party has achieved the distinction of being the only mainstream party in Korea to have both constituency and proportional representation seats," emphasizing, "We will expand this support and create a huge torch that can achieve ten to a hundred times the results in the next local elections."

He further stated, "Led by presidential candidate Lee Jun-seok, we will do our best to lead the Reform New Party on the path of a governing party," and sincerely thanked the public for supporting and voting for the Reform New Party. When asked if he felt any regret about the Reform New Party securing only one to two proportional seats, Chairman Cheon replied, "Of course, the more seats, the better, but we are grateful to the people who allowed us to enter the National Assembly," adding, "We take the approximately 3% of the national vote we received seriously and will work responsibly to fundamentally reform Korean politics."

Reform New Party candidate Lee Jun-seok, running for the 22nd National Assembly election in Hwaseong-si, was delighted as his victory became likely on the morning of the 11th at Yeoul Park in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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Earlier, Lee, who became a member of the National Assembly for the first time in 13 years since entering politics in 2011, said after his election was confirmed, "Above all, I sincerely thank the residents of Dongtan who have honored me with this election victory," adding, "It has been less than a month and a half since I declared my candidacy in Dongtan, and I know this is a very big decision to give me the opportunity to represent the region."

Lee continued, "Looking at the election results, I think the ruling party has truly received a stern judgment from the public," emphasizing, "I hope President Yoon Seok-yeol reflects on why the person who led the ruling party to a great victory in the previous nationwide election had to leave the party and run like this."

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