'Lee Jun-seok is Dangerous' Defamatory Texts Spread... Lee Says, "Is This Experience?"

Lee Jun-seok "The Entire Party Membership List Was Leaked to a Specific Camp"

Candidate Lee Jun-seok, a contender for the People Power Party leadership. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Lee Jun-seok, a candidate for the leadership of the People Power Party, claimed on the 6th that "the entire party membership list was leaked by a specific camp and is presumed to have been used to send defamatory messages against Lee Jun-seok," causing a stir.

On the same day, Lee posted on his Facebook, saying, "The party membership list can only be used by candidate camps during the election period, and we have not sent a single message yet."

He added, "If it is true that an individual, not the camp, sent such defamatory messages about a rival candidate using the party membership list, the candidate who leaked the personal information of 300,000 party members should take responsibility and resign immediately upon confirmation," and sharply questioned, "Is this what experience and wisdom look like?"

Photo by Lee Jun-seok, screenshot from candidate's Facebook page.

Along with this, Lee also posted a screenshot of the text message. The disclosed message included phrases like 'Why Lee Jun-seok~~' and 'Lee Jun-seok is dangerous,' along with a YouTube video link. Both links lead to a YouTube channel called 'Upa.com.'

The video contained statements such as "We must filter out fake seeds like Lee Jun-seok," "Although young, he has had various political experiences over a considerable period, ran for the National Assembly election three times, and was part of the leadership of a major party. What has he learned all this time? Has he only learned wrong lessons from completely unrelated people?" and "There have been many politicians in our country whose age was their weapon and who have rotted politics. Have they ever changed politics?"

Photo by YouTube channel 'Upa.com' screen capture.

Netizens who came across this news left comments on Lee's post, saying, "I received it too but just blocked the sender. It's unfortunate. Isn't the attitude of an experienced politician to compete fairly and accept the election results cleanly?", "I received this too, and it seems too harsh," "I just received it as well," "Let's compete fairly," and "They must be thoroughly identified and held accountable if caught," showing various reactions.

Meanwhile, Lee's camp reportedly immediately urged the party to investigate. Son Myeong-young, deputy spokesperson for Lee's camp, sent an official letter to Hwang Woo-yeo, the election commissioner of the People Power Party's leadership election, stating, "Some malicious forces trying to disrupt the election and distort the results are mass-sending defamatory messages against the party leader candidates, directly violating Article 251 (Defamation of Candidates) of the Public Official Election Act," and requested, "Please immediately issue an order to stop the transmission of these messages from the sender."