Lee Jun-seok: "I Still Addressed Ahn Cheol-soo with 'ssi'"

Position on the Incident at the Bokgukjip in Front of the National Assembly
"People Embarrassed by Continuous Swearing Nearby"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok revealed the full story behind the so-called 'Bokguk Restaurant Incident' on the 6th, where he had a tense exchange with People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo at a bokguk (blowfish soup) restaurant in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, separated by a partition. At the time, Lee shouted, "Ahn Cheol-soo, please be quiet," after hearing Ahn's voice criticizing him from the adjacent room. It is known that Lee and Ahn coincidentally took seats in the neighboring rooms of the restaurant that day.

On the 8th, Lee appeared on the YouTube channel 'Maebul Show' and explained the background of why he shouted at Ahn, saying, "Someone came into the next room and kept making noise, so we couldn't have a conversation. When I heard the voice, I immediately knew who it was," adding, "It was so noisy that our conversation kept getting interrupted. I listened and it was 20 minutes of cursing Lee Jun-seok."

He continued, "Since the cursing continued from next door, even the reporters dining with me started feeling embarrassed," and explained, "So I said, 'Ahn Cheol-soo, please be quiet while eating.'" Regarding why he addressed Ahn as 'Ahn Cheol-soo,' he said, "If you look at Ahn's Facebook, he used to call me 'Lee Jun-seok-ssi' (Mr. Lee Jun-seok), but now he just calls me 'Lee Jun-seok.' Still, I kept the honorific 'ssi'."

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok (left) and People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He emphasized that he could not help but intervene because Ahn was too noisy during the meal. Lee said, "I was speaking in a normal voice with the reporters dining with me. They probably didn't know it was me (in the next room), so they acted that way," adding, "But since it was very noisy next door, I knew it was me."

Lee and Ahn are known as 'political arch-enemies.' The two have had a bad relationship since they faced off in the 20th general election in 2016 in Nowon-byeong, Seoul, and later had conflicts over nomination issues when they were together in the Bareunmirae Party.

Recently, they clashed again over Ahn's profanity controversy during the campaign for the Seoul Gangseo District Mayor by-election held last month. Regarding the profanity controversy, Ahn claimed that Lee generated fake news and launched a signature campaign to expel him.