Lee Junseok: "Yoon disliked me so much he pushed for a passing admission... Who would believe I colluded over nominations?"

On August 4, Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform New Party, denied allegations of collusion with former President Yoon Sukyeol and his wife regarding the 'nomination interference' case, stating, "Former President Yoon disliked me so much from the moment I joined the party that he pushed for a 'passing' admission."

Reform New Party leader Lee Junseok is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

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After the Reform New Party's Supreme Council meeting that morning, Lee spoke to reporters and said, "The logic of the special prosecutor is that this is obstruction of business, and that I am an accomplice," adding, "Former President Yoon unilaterally tried to keep me in check and exclude me. How many people would believe that I colluded with him over nominations during that process?"

Lee emphasized, "The special prosecutor may be working hard to produce results on all fronts, but political pressure is not the right direction," and insisted, "Legally, this does not make sense."

Previously, the Reform New Party attempted to hold its first Supreme Council meeting with the new leadership on July 28, but the meeting was canceled due to a special prosecutor's raid that morning.

Lee commented, "We should have started the first Supreme Council meeting last week, but we couldn't because of the special prosecutor's raid," and pointed out, "Now that the Lee Jaemyung administration is in its second month, it is already showing signs of moving too fast in its early days."

Regarding Jeong Cheongrae, who was elected as the new leader of the Democratic Party, Lee said, "From his very first statement, he has made sharp remarks," and added, "If President Lee Jaemyung and leader Jeong Cheongrae both take a hardline approach, the ruling and opposition parties will face extreme confrontation regardless of the number of seats."

On the Yellow Envelope Act (the amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act), which the Democratic Party is pushing to pass in a plenary session of the National Assembly, Lee said, "I agree with the intention to guarantee union activities as much as possible," but added, "Expanding the scope of negotiations to include the principal contractor could dampen business activities, so I oppose it."

Lee also criticized the government's plan, announced at the meeting, to lower the threshold for major shareholders subject to capital gains tax on stocks from 5 billion won to 1 billion won through tax reform.

Lee said, "Investors who know that a year-end sell-off will trigger a market downturn will reduce their buying in advance, shrinking the market," and added, "While calling for the KOSPI to reach 5,000, introducing anti-market policies is nothing but 'selling dog meat under a sheep's head'?a classic case of false advertising."

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