Lee Jun-seok, Who Spent Less Than 30 Million Won on Chonnam National University Election... Continuous Breakthroughs

Lee Jun-seok, the newly appointed leader of the People Power Party, is commuting to the National Assembly for the first time on the morning of the 13th by riding a Ddareungi bike from the National Assembly Station. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] It has been reported that Lee Jun-seok, the newly elected leader of the People Power Party, spent only 30 million KRW on his campaign for this party convention. Previously, he had raised 150 million KRW through 'small donations,' but did not use all of the funds. Lee's team is reportedly considering handing over the remaining funds to the party to be used for fulfilling campaign promises such as debate battles.

According to Lee's team on the 13th, the finalized expenses so far include 9 million KRW for producing small printed materials and 300,000 KRW for miscellaneous expenses. Additionally, unsettled items such as candidate activity costs and personnel expenses are estimated to be around 15 to 20 million KRW, with the total not expected to exceed 30 million KRW.

From the start of the party convention campaign, Lee set various new records. He introduced the so-called '3-no (無) campaign method,' which involved no campaign office, no text message promotions, and no support vehicles. Ultimately, he achieved both victory in the convention and low campaign costs.

However, there are opinions that it may be difficult for other politicians to follow Lee's campaign method. This is because the unique circumstances of non-face-to-face elections due to COVID-19, as well as Lee's personal recognition built over 10 years of frequent media exposure, likely had a significant impact. Additionally, the fact that a large-scale party convention was not held due to COVID-19 is also said to have worked in Lee's favor.