[Politics That Day] The Bad Blood Between Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok... The Inside Story of the 'ByeongX' Insult Disciplinary Action

October 2019 Barunmiraedang Ethics Committee Disciplinary Clash
Was Profanity the Reason for Discipline? Controversy Over Political Motives
Persistent Political Feud, How Will It Affect the General Election Situation?

Editor's Note"Politics on That Day" is a series that looks back on Korean politics through the "recollection of memories" related to notable scenes, events, or figures.

"I don't deal with sick people." (Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party) "He put on a devil's tear show." (Ahn Cheol-soo, People Power Party lawmaker)

The verbal sparring between Ahn Cheol-soo, a People Power Party lawmaker, and Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party, is intensifying. Lee Jun-seok likened Ahn Cheol-soo to a "sick person." In response, Ahn Cheol-soo described Lee Jun-seok's National Assembly press conference as a "devil's tear show."

Politicians sometimes engage in heated verbal battles. Usually, such exchanges occur between ruling and opposition party politicians. However, even in extreme confrontations, politicians try not to cross certain lines. This is because, as the saying goes, there are no eternal allies or enemies in politics, and one never knows when they might join hands again.

Politicians Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok were prominent figures leading the effort to elect President Yoon Seok-youl ahead of the March presidential election last year. While their views may have differed, their goal was the same. Now, under one roof (People Power Party), the two have formed a confrontational relationship that has crossed acceptable boundaries.

On the morning of April 28, 2022, Ahn Cheol-soo, the head of the Presidential Transition Committee, is speaking at the first party-government meeting between the People Power Party and the Presidential Transition Committee held at the National Assembly.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The problem is that their conflict has escalated beyond ideological, policy, or factional disputes into an emotional battle. Their relationship is heading toward an irreparable state.

From a political framing perspective, this confrontation is disadvantageous for politician Lee Jun-seok. The People Power Party has been shaken and confused following a crushing defeat in the by-election for the mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul. When a party suffers a major loss, responsibility is usually questioned, and the "Ahn Cheol-soo?Lee Jun-seok" conflict has become a focal point of interest among ruling party supporters.

Politician Lee Jun-seok has been swept into the vortex of responsibility for the Gangseo District mayoral defeat, regardless of his own will. The political blueprint of Lee Jun-seok, who had been positioning himself against President Yoon Seok-youl for future political maneuvers, is also being shaken. The emergence of an "Ahn Cheol-soo?Lee Jun-seok" confrontation rather than a "Yoon Seok-youl?Lee Jun-seok" one is an unwelcome scenario for politician Lee Jun-seok.

In that sense, politician Ahn Cheol-soo's attacks on politician Lee Jun-seok have had some political effect. However, considering the position of a politician dreaming of the next presidential election, the story changes. Politician Ahn Cheol-soo needs to expand the ruling party's friendly groups based on additive politics to gain strength in the next presidential race, but the nervous tension with politician Lee Jun-seok is a form of subtractive politics.

Exposing unrefined language in the process of attacking politician Lee Jun-seok is also a burden. Calling a former party leader a "devil" is an unprecedented scene in the history of Korean political parties. As a result, politician Ahn Cheol-soo succeeded in putting some brakes on politician Lee Jun-seok's political moves but also suffered considerable internal damage.

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, is holding an emergency press conference on March 6, 2023, at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The background behind their mutual hurtful confrontation is a subject of interest in political circles. When discussing political rivalries, the 2016 20th general election cannot be overlooked. At that time, they competed for the National Assembly seat in Seoul's Nowon-gu B district.

Politician Ahn Cheol-soo ran as a candidate for the People's Party, and politician Lee Jun-seok ran as a candidate for the Saenuri Party. The Democratic Party also fielded a candidate but came in third. The head-to-head contest between Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok ended in a decisive victory for Ahn Cheol-soo.

At that time, Ahn Cheol-soo received 52.3% of the vote, while Lee Jun-seok received 31.3%.

Is the relationship between the two, who competed for the Seoul Nowon-gu National Assembly seat, the root of their current grudge? While it is widely believed that emotional resentment from the 2016 general election remains, competition on the election stage alone cannot fully explain the emotional conflict between the two politicians.

The most decisive trigger for their political rivalry is widely considered to be the disciplinary decision by the Bareunmirae Party Ethics Committee on October 18, 2019.

The Bareunmirae Party Ethics Committee imposed a severe disciplinary action of "removal from party office" on Lee Jun-seok, the Supreme Council member, for derogatory remarks against former leader Ahn Cheol-soo. At that time, Lee Jun-seok had to relinquish both his Supreme Council membership and his position as the head of the Nowon B district party committee.

The problematic remarks reportedly came during the Bareunmirae Party's youth political school entrance ceremony on March 25, 2019. Politician Lee Jun-seok is said to have used abusive language such as "sick X" targeting politician Ahn Cheol-soo. Although there were claims that the remarks were made in private, they ultimately led to severe disciplinary action.

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, held a press conference on August 13, 2022, at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, where he directly expressed his position regarding the provisional injunction application related to the party's transition to an emergency response committee system. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The disciplinary action by the Bareunmirae Party at the time was a subject of controversy. There were criticisms that the Ethics Committee's decision was part of a political purge against rivals. Politician Lee Jun-seok stated regarding the Ethics Committee's decision, "I deplore the use of the Ethics Committee as a tool for factionalism."

Regarding this, a source close to lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo explained on the 21st, "The 2019 disciplinary decision was made amid conflicts between the Son Hak-gyu leadership and Supreme Council member Lee Jun-seok. At that time, former leader Ahn was in Germany and was not involved in domestic politics until his return to politics in 2020."

The disciplinary decision remains a deeply painful memory in former leader Lee Jun-seok's political career.

In October 2019, the Bareunmirae Party was in the midst of a whirlwind of division. Although they belonged to the same party, their views on the April 2020 general election differed.

There was fierce internal hegemony struggle. Politicians Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok were on opposite sides. The Ethics Committee's decision acted as a catalyst that intensified the conflict. Both eventually left the Bareunmirae Party to seek new paths. Although they seemed unlikely to ever work together again, they are now in the same space under the People Power Party.

Both raised their political stature as the ruling party's "political major shareholders" during the presidential election season, but as of October 2023, their political standing is not what it used to be.

For different reasons, both are one step removed from the mainstream of power. The general election is less than six months away. What paths will the two take during the election process? If a political realignment whirlwind sweeps through the ruling party, what political choices will they make? Will their political relationship continue to deteriorate, or will a dramatic reconciliation occur amid changes in the political landscape?

The enduring rivalry drama between politicians Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok makes their roles in the April general election season next year intriguing.