Ahn Cheol-soo Seriously Pursuing 'Lee Jun-seok Expulsion', Even Launches Website... Lee Says "Please Participate"

Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok Clash Over Disciplinary Petition
Ha Tae-kyung: "We Must Put Lee Jun-seok and Yoo Seung-min Forward to Win the General Election"

Former People Power Party (PPP) leader Lee Jun-seok criticized PPP lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, who launched a website to petition for disciplinary action against him, asking, "Why are you collecting IP and MAC addresses to discipline me?"

On the 24th, Ahn shared on his Facebook page the website titled 'Ahn Cheol-soo's Innovation, Lee Jun-seok Expulsion Campaign,' introducing it by saying, "We have completed the development of a new website to join the Lee Jun-seok expulsion signature campaign." He added, "Anyone can participate without going through Naver or Google login procedures on PC, iPhone, or Galaxy," and requested, "Please encourage participation in signing."

Ahn has been urging Lee, the former leader, to be expelled from the party on charges of spreading fake news, defamation, and interfering with the Gangseo District mayoral by-election, accusing him of "ruining the party through internal betrayal."

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

The website created by Ahn includes a notice stating, "During the Gangseo District mayoral by-election period, rather than campaigning for the candidate, Lee Jun-seok, who wished for the party's candidate to fail, is participating as a complainant in the party's ethics committee lawsuit. Please join us." After agreeing to the collection of personal information, participants can enter ▲name ▲phone number ▲address (down to the city, county, and neighborhood level) to sign the petition.

On the 14th, about 16,000 party members participated in the expulsion signature campaign initiated by Ahn. On the 16th, Ahn submitted this to the party's ethics committee, requesting disciplinary expulsion against Lee.

Not backing down, Lee also pointed out, "Why are you collecting IP and MAC addresses to discipline Lee Jun-seok?" On the same day, he shared Ahn's post encouraging participation in the signature campaign on his Facebook, saying, "Please participate a lot. But why are you collecting your IP and MAC addresses to discipline Lee Jun-seok?"

Lee added, "It's also interesting how they plan to collect MAC addresses. Unless the 'AhnLab Safe Transaction,' which is forcibly installed on many citizens' computers, has a MAC tracking function added for this purpose, it is impossible," referring to the security software.

Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, shared the homepage of the "Ahn Cheol-soo's Innovation, Lee Jun-seok Expulsion Movement" on Facebook on the 24th. [Image source=Ahn's Facebook]

Lee, who has been urging party reform, said, "I have not decided to part ways with the party" (at the Asia Forum 21 policy discussion with Daegu and Gyeongbuk journalists on the 18th), but also mentioned a specific period of '100 days before the general election,' saying, "I have my own red lines" (on MBC Radio's 'Shin Jang-sik's New Business' on the 17th). This refers to the end of December when groundwork for the general election, including candidate nominations, begins.

In response, political circles have raised speculation about Lee's possible withdrawal from the party and the formation of a new party, with analyses suggesting that Lee is building justification for leaving.

PPP lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung argued, "In elections, you have to put forward those who have committed internal betrayal to win; that's how past elections have been," advocating for embracing the anti-Yoon (President Yoon Suk-yeol) faction, including Lee. He said the party must take bold measures, such as appointing Lee as the head of the Seoul election campaign headquarters and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min as the head of the Gyeonggi campaign headquarters, to win the general election.

On Channel A Radio's 'Political Signal,' Ha said, "Former President Park Geun-hye also clashed with MB (former President Lee Myung-bak) over MB's key policy of making Sejong City the administrative capital, and there were two factions within the party: the MB faction and the Park Geun-hye faction. But during elections, she became the emergency committee chair and won." He added, "As one of our party's general election victory strategies, for example, Lee Jun-seok should be the head of the Seoul campaign headquarters, and Yoo Seung-min should be the head of the Gyeonggi campaign headquarters."