Lee Jun-seok declares to make a new party

Lee Joon-seok, a former representative of the People\'s Power, holds a press conference on his defection from the party at a rib restaurant in Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, on Nov. 27. By Han Soo-bin subinhann@kyunghyang.com

Lee Jun-seok, a former representative of the ruling People's Power Party, officially announced his departure from the PPP and the creation of a new party on December 27. He likened the big two-party politics to "gladiatorial politics where opponents are made into symbols of villains and set up in the Colosseum," and called for support for the new party in the third zone.

He criticized the PPP as a "political organization led by prosecutors and police," referring to the period after the Coup d’etat of December Twelfth when "both the president and the party leader were soldiers. "I will start by denying the scenario of a reunion with the PPP before the general election,” he said, adding that he has no intention of reversing the creation of the new party.

Lee held a press conference at a restaurant in Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, where he said, "I am leaving the PPP. I give up all my political assets in the PPP," he said. Lee started as a member of Park Geun-hye's emergency committee in 2011 and declared the creation of a new party under his own name on the 12th anniversary of his political career.

He became the leader of the People's Power Party in 2021 and led the party to victory in last year's presidential and local elections, but after being labeled as an “inside job” by President Yoon Suk-yeol he lost his position and finally defected. The "generation siege" alliance between Yoon, who won the support of the elderly during the presidential election, and Lee, who had strong support among young men, was also broken. Lee's defection will go down in political history as an unusual case of a party leader who led a presidential victory in less than two years.

Lee said he had been thinking about leaving the party for months. "I looked up and saw the future, not the past. It is not the party that is in a state of emergency, but the Republic of Korea," he said, explaining his reasons for defecting.

"Gladiatorial politics, which makes the opposing political force a symbol of evil, a villain, and sets it up in the Colosseum, is supposed to be like a full moon, while productive politics, which talks about the future, becomes full like a crescent moon," Lee said. He called on citizens to "stop going to the Colosseum and come to the agora (square) to support the responsible politicians who are discussing the community crisis." He contrasted the big two parties as a waning full moon and the new party as a waxing crescent.

Lee cited some tasks of solving such as the contradiction between fostering science and technology and expanding medical school enrollment, and the one between the crisis of local universities disappearing and university tuition support, the lack of a plan to control military recruiting crisis due to the declining birthrate, the controversy over the killer question on the SAT, and national pension reform.

Noting that most people in power today are "not in politics for more than a decade at the most," he said, "I'm likely to be alive in 30 years to be judged on the arguments and choices I make now. Who's alternatives and proposals will be more genuine and desperate?" he said. This is interpreted to differentiate himself as 12 years younger than the 50-year-old Han Dong-hoon, the new leader of the PPP’s Emergency Committee. Lee called the generation siege theory "an age divide. I don't trust it." Taking aim at Han's remarks, Lee said, "It's a pity, but I don't think there's any other way to win other than the generational siege theory," adding, "Don't differentiate yourself from Lee Jun-suk, differentiate yourself from the president."

"Even now, in the midst of Korea's crisis, some people consider it a calling to assume the opponent as evil and liquidate it, and lead citizens in that direction," Lee said. "Why should extreme confrontation and knife-wielding to defeat the enemy be the language of all of us, even though it's been almost two years since the presidential election?" he added. This was in response to Han's continued criticism of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, as a declaration of war. "It is a recurring trauma to see someone unelected wielding all kinds of tangible and intangible power to run the country," he said. While apparently aimed at the Park Geun-hye administration's manipulation of state affairs, Lee's comments have been interpreted as a criticism of Yoon's spouse, Kim Gun-hee.

"Why is it that we, who lived through and overcame an era when both the president and the party leader were soldiers, are once again being forced to put aside important issues of the time and engage in extreme confrontation because of a political coalition led by prosecutors and police?" Lee asked, referring to the Coup d’etat of December Twelfth that was the backdrop for the movie “12.12:The Day.” He criticized the government and the ruling party, led by President Yoon, who is a former prosecutor, as well as Han, the leader of PPP’s Emergency Committee and Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader, who is a former police officer.

We remember all the piggy banks gathered for the former president, President Roh Moo-hyun 20 years ago. Why not now?" he said, appealing for support for the new party, saying, "Every little bit helps. "Today, the party preparation committee was launched under the tentative name of the Reform Party," Lee said. "I will deny the scenario of a reunion with PPP the general election," he said, adding that he has no intention of reversing the formation of the new party. Lee is expected to push for the process to be completed in mid-January. The "Chun-Ae-In" (Chun Haram, Heo Eun-ah, Kim Yong-tae, and Lee Ki-in), who are categorized as the "Lee Joon-suk kids," are expected to join in sequence, with the exception of former Supreme Leader Kim Yong-tae.

On the same day, Park Chung-ha, chief spokesperson for the PPP, briefly commented on Lee's defection, saying, "We are grateful for his activities and hope that he will fulfill his political dream in the future." It is understood that he did not want to escalate the confrontation with Lee's new party.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.