Lee Jun-seok Appeals for Support, Asking to "Discipline Arrogant Lee" During Visit to Andong

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is holding an emergency press conference on the proposal for a merger announced by Lee Tae-gyu, the general director of the People's Party, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 23rd.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, strongly appealed for support during his visit to Andong, Gyeongbuk, the hometown of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate.

On the morning of the 27th, at a campaign event in Andong Unbu Park, Lee said, "Whenever candidate Lee speaks, Democratic Party members say that since he is from Andong, he will get many votes there," but he criticized, "Candidate Lee has been away from Andong for too long and seems not to understand the sentiments of our Andong well."

Lee added, "What kind of place is Andong? Isn't it a region where elders have persistently taught us to live upright since childhood?" He appealed, "I ask the residents of Andong to deliver the strongest judgment and strictest discipline to candidate Lee, who arrogantly assumes he can get votes just because he is from Andong." He also questioned, "Isn't the truly clean candidate that Andong hopes for candidate Yoon, and isn't Yoon the one who will lead Korean politics toward unified politics? Won't we show this to Korea?"

Lee said, "There is an old saying that a needle thief becomes a cow thief," and claimed, "Candidate Lee, while serving as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province, deceived the public by saying he was a very capable administrator who saved taxes." He continued, "Someone who wastes national funds like this reportedly has assets of 3.1 billion won," and criticized, "Did he really have to use national funds to eat beef, sushi, sandwiches, and Vietnamese pho?" This was interpreted as a reference to allegations of misuse of corporate cards by candidate Lee’s spouse, Kim Hye-kyung.

Lee said, "I will have only one expectation in this election," and appealed, "After the election, when the votes are analyzed, I want to confidently produce data showing that many votes came from Andong and Yecheon, so that we can push candidate Yoon to include the promised items from the transition team phase in the national agenda and ask for their swift implementation. Please overwhelmingly support us."

Earlier, candidate Yoon had pledged to foster the vaccine and bio industry and lead regional development by establishing a new drug development and vaccine industry cluster centered on the Gyeongbuk Bio Industrial Complex in Andong.