Lee Jun-seok bolts PPP to create new party ahead of general elections

Former People Power Party (PPP) chief Lee Jun-seok announced his departure from the PPP, pledging to create his own party on Wednesday, with around 100 days left till next year's general elections.

Former People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok, left, announces his departure from the PPP to create a new party in a press conference at a restaurant in Sanggye-dong in Nowon District, northern Seoul, on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Former People Power Party (PPP) chief Lee Jun-seok announced his departure from the PPP, pledging to create his own party on Wednesday, with around 100 days left till next year's general elections.

"Today, I leave the PPP, and at the same time give up all the political assets that I had within the party," Lee said at a restaurant in Sanggye-dong in Nowon District, northern Seoul, after former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon became the PPP's interim leader earlier this week.

He said he will launch a party tentatively named the "New Reform Party," completing a registration process with the National Election Commission in Gwacheon and forming a committee to prepare for its launch.

Lee's departure from the conservative party he had once helmed comes as he has frequently clashed with President Yoon Suk Yeol and the faction within the PPP supportive of the president. Han, a close confidant of Yoon as a fellow prosecutor, apparently made little effort to stop Lee from leaving.

Lee has forecasted plans to launch a new party for weeks, critical of Yoon's reform policies and the inability of the PPP to separate itself from the president, a message reiterated through his press conference.

Over the past 12 years, Lee made an impression entering politics in 2011 as a member of the conservative party's interim emergency leadership committee on the recommendation of former President Park Geun-hye. At the time, he was dubbed one of "Park Geun-hye's kids."

Lee spent his childhood in Nowon, his political hometown, where he made three failed runs for a parliamentary seat. The press conference date is also significant as Lee was first recruited by Park to the emergency leadership committee on Dec. 27, 2011.

The Harvard graduate was elected PPP chairman in June 2021, becoming the youngest political party leader at 36.

Lee was eventually ousted as PPP chief in August 2022 after the PPP ethics committee suspended his party membership over allegations he had accepted sexual services as a bribe from a businessman in 2013 and later tried to cover it up.

Lee's suspension from the party, set to run to next January, was lifted last month after the PPP's disbanded innovation committee restored his membership early as a part of sweeping reform measures.

The reform efforts came after the PPP's embarrassing defeat by the liberal Democratic Party (DP) in a crucial by-election in Seoul's Gangseo District in October, seen as a barometer of public sentiment in the metropolitan area.

During the last presidential campaign, Lee often made brazen remarks aimed at appealing to young male voters in their 20s and 30s and became a figurehead for antifeminism.

During Wednesday's press conference, Lee ruled out the possibility that his new party would form a merger with the PPP ahead of the parliamentary elections in April, adding that a merger was unlikely even after the voting.

Regarding his departure from his party of a dozen years, Lee joked, "I feel like I've experienced a divorce."

Lee claimed a key PPP member offered him the position of chairman of the general election planning committee a few months ago, but he remained unmoved.

"Having led a large political party, I have confidence when taking on a new challenge," Lee said, referring to forming a new party.

"Unlike the irresponsible politicians of today, there is a high probability that I will still be alive and well-regarded 30 years from now for the claims and choices I make now," Lee said, blaming current politicians for their inability to resolve national issues and casting doubt about their political longevity.

In response to Lee's departure and creation of a new party, Park Jeong-ha, the PPP spokesman, said on Wednesday, "We hope that he will achieve his goals in the future."

However, it is unclear if members of the PPP who are not loyalists to Yoon will defect to join Lee's new party, with some who are close to Lee opting to remain with their current party for various reasons.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]