Lee Jun-seok's 'Bench Shoes' and 'Tree Pruning' Attacks Backfire

Lee Jun-seok, Lee Jae-myung's 'Bench Shoes' Criticism Backfires on Kim Eun-hye
Lee Jae-myung Launches Counterattack: "Explain the Sexual Bribery Allegations First"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the 'People Power Party 8th Nationwide Local Election Gyeongnam Campaign Headquarters Launch Ceremony and Meeting' held on the afternoon of the 15th at the Changwon Convention Center in Changwon, Gyeongnam. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, has been launching daily attacks against Lee Jae-myung, the General Election Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is running in the Incheon Gyeyang-eul parliamentary by-election held alongside the June 1 local elections. However, Lee’s camp has actively responded with explanations and rebuttals, resulting in a backlash.

On the 16th, Yoon Hyung-sun, the People Power Party candidate for Incheon Gyeyang-eul, raised suspicions that all the branches of a tree in front of Lee’s Gyeyang-gu campaign office had been cut off, suggesting that Lee might have pruned the branches to make his banner hanging on the office’s exterior wall more visible. Yoon issued a press release stating, "At the actual site, the branches of the tree in front of Lee Jae-myung’s camp were cut much shorter compared to other surrounding trees. Could this have been done to better display the large banner hanging on the exterior wall of the campaign office?"

In response, on the 18th, Lee Jun-seok shared a related article on Facebook and posted a critical comment toward Lee Jae-myung, saying, "Sorry for not protecting the tree. I will uncover the truth." The article Lee shared was titled "Street Tree in Front of Lee Jae-myung’s Banner Left Only with Trunk... District Office’s Explanation," which included the district office’s explanation about why the tree branches were cut.

According to a Yonhap News report, the district office in charge began replacing street trees in the area at the end of December last year, and the branches were pruned in February this year as part of the project. Although the plan was to remove the tree and plant a new one, due to complaints from environmental groups, the tree was left as is without being uprooted.

At the time of pruning in February, the campaign office was that of former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, and a banner from Lee’s presidential campaign was hanging. This led to suspicions that the branches were cut to better display the presidential campaign banner, not for the parliamentary election. However, the district office dismissed this, stating that the project had started in April last year.

Lee Jae-myung, the General Election Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a speech at the Democratic Party of Korea Incheon Election Committee Launch Ceremony held at Geyang Station Square in Incheon on the 19th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Earlier, Lee Jun-seok had posted a photo on Facebook criticizing Lee Jae-myung for giving a speech while wearing shoes and standing on a bench during election campaigning, but this backfired. When Lee criticized Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party supporters countered by posting photos of Kim Eun-hye, the People Power Party candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, also standing on a bench wearing shoes. Some netizens posted photos from when President Yoon Suk-yeol was a presidential candidate, which sparked controversy over "train seat shoe stomping," in the comments of Lee’s Facebook post, criticizing, "People Power Party is the same."

Amid the controversy, candidate Kim apologized, saying, "I fully accept the public’s opinion that it was inappropriate for me to stand on the bench wearing shoes." Lee’s camp issued a statement explaining, "After the speech, we immediately cleaned the area using wet wipes and gloves," and launched a counterattack by mentioning allegations of sexual bribery against Lee Jun-seok.

On the 19th, in an interview with CBS Radio’s "Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show," Lee Jae-myung said, "Lee Jun-seok talks a lot, but as a politician, he should first explain the allegations of sexual bribery against himself before talking. If you want to point out problems in other parties, you should look at yourself first. If it were the Democratic Party, the party would have been disbanded over such allegations," criticizing Lee Jun-seok.