[Exclusive] Lee Jun-seok Abruptly Leaves People Power Party: "Cannot Wait for a Political Scene Without Change"

Former leader of the People Power Party, Lee Jun-seok, announced his resignation from the party on the 27th. On that day, at Mapo Charcoal Grilled Ribs restaurant located in Nowon-gu, Seoul, Lee stated, "Today, I am leaving the People Power Party. At the same time, I am relinquishing all the political assets I held within the People Power Party."

He said, "I am immensely grateful beyond words to the party members who elected me as their representative and who took the lead in winning the presidential and local elections from their respective positions," but added, "I cannot just wait indefinitely. More precisely, I cannot wait while watching the unchanging political landscape of the Republic of Korea."

He continued, "Having experienced impeachment, I vowed never to tolerate a Korea where there is an unofficial influence but no vision," and said, "The repeated scenes of someone unelected wielding all tangible and intangible power to manipulate Korea, and the law and common sense being rendered powerless before that person, are traumas I never want to experience again."

Lee emphasized, "Politics that turns opposing political forces into symbols of evil, villains, and pits them as gladiators in a colosseum becomes like a full moon (Wolryun, 月輪), whereas productive politics that talks about the future grows like a waxing crescent moon (Wolsin, 月新)."

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is holding a press conference announcing his withdrawal from the party at a restaurant in Nowon-gu, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The following is the full text of Lee’s speech.

Dear beloved citizens,

Today marks the 12th year since I started my political career, and I set this day as the moment to make my decision after much contemplation over the past few months. The years I spent with the People Power Party, the moments of glory that were not light, and the memories of tears alternately pulled my arms in opposite directions.

I am deeply grateful beyond words to the party members who elected me as their representative and who took the lead in winning the presidential and local elections from their respective positions. The consecutive victories in the last presidential and local elections could not have been achieved without the help and love of the party members.

Within the imperative goal of bringing victory’s joy to party members who suffered the wounds of impeachment, there were times when it was necessary to strongly restrain the presidential candidate. It was also necessary to strongly confront the outdated inertia within the party so that the younger generation could stand at the center of politics. If any party members felt uncomfortable with the process rather than the good results, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize.

Critics say that if the current situation of the People Power Party and the conservative camp is so bad, I should wait for the right time and look for opportunities. If it were me three years ago, I probably would have taken such advice seriously, repeating proverbs like "enduring hardship" and "ambition," and uttering Yeouido dialect phrases like "dedicating myself to the party."

In fact, I could have waited indefinitely. I could have lived intertwined like the wild vines on Mansu Mountain, sometimes enjoying glory and sometimes enduring hardship, with an attitude of "what does it matter if this or that happens?" In fact, a few months ago, I was even offered a position such as "General Election Campaign Chairman" by a responsible person. But I was not moved at all.

Today, my choice is not because of personal treatment or painful memories inflicted on me. I raised my head and looked toward the future, not the past.

What is in a state of emergency is absolutely not the party. It is the Republic of Korea. I could not just wait. More precisely, Korea does not have the luxury to wait while watching an unchanging political scene.

Having experienced impeachment, I vowed never to tolerate a Korea where there is unofficial influence but no vision. The repeated scenes of someone unelected wielding all tangible and intangible power to manipulate Korea, and the law and common sense being rendered powerless before that person, are traumas that I and all citizens never want to experience again.

I reproach and reflect on myself once again for not being able to make the fleeting spring that briefly visited the conservative party eternal. I reflect on the mistake of confronting their lust for power within the bounds of common sense but failing to suppress it. Everything is my fault for being insufficient.

Today, I am leaving the People Power Party. At the same time, I will relinquish all the political assets I have in the People Power Party. Those who cling to past glories and legacies can never draw a clear future.

Respected citizens, now the official language of Korea must be the future.

Even now, some believe that defining the opponent as evil and purging them is their mission amid Korea’s crisis, and they try to lead citizens in that direction.

But as the saying goes, Masangdeukji, Masangchiji (馬上得之 馬上治之) ? even if you gain the world on horseback, you cannot govern it forever on horseback. It has been almost two years since the presidential election ended, so why must extreme confrontation to defeat the enemy and the stubbornness of the swordsman become the language of all of us?

Politics is an effort to improve the lives of the public. Now, citizens, please stop heading to the colosseum to enjoy the gladiator’s swordsmanship aimed at defeating the opponent. Though it may be burdensome, please come to the agora and support responsible politicians discussing the community’s crisis.

Let us all sit upright together. Caught in factional logic, we overlook problems within our own team with a "let’s just get along" attitude, and the younger generation, who truly worries about the future, has come to see politics as a playground of double standards and turned away.

How long must we remain a Korea that teaches ideals in school but enforces a non-ideal reality? If you live as the teacher taught ? to be true and righteous ? you become a dilettante and are ridiculed. We teach the 4.19 and 5.18 uprisings as popular resistance in textbooks, yet in reality, as democracy’s foundation crumbles, we consistently choose the lesser evil at the ballot box under the guise of factional logic. If you cannot live as you have learned, what is the use of learning?

Past political soldiers always emphasized the threat from North Korea and suppressed many freedoms through emergency declarations. Surprisingly, these so-called professional soldiers did not prioritize national security, even mobilizing front-line divisions for coups. Having endured and overcome times when both the president and party leader were military officers, why must we again be forced into extreme confrontation, neglecting important era-defining tasks, because of political factions led by prosecutors and police?

Citizens, do you think your future, your children’s future, and your grandchildren’s future should be entrusted to someone who is just a little less bad, continuing this absurd gladiator rally? Because you enjoy this rally, no political force worries about the future or alternatives anymore. They do not engage in productive competition.

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is holding a press conference announcing his withdrawal from the party at a restaurant in Nowon-gu, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Korea is currently in crisis. While we are engaged in a tug-of-war of despair, various unavoidable challenges are accumulating.

In the new party I am forming, we will face this crisis squarely and boldly speak the unpopular truths. We will honestly address Korea’s critical problems, which have become so severe that we no longer know where to inject the medicine, after overusing fever reducers and painkillers. If someone tries again to turn opponents into villains in the colosseum, I will grab that person by the collar and force them into the agora to talk about the future, even if I have to do it a hundred times.

Let me share some urgent thoughts.

On one hand, we say we will nurture science and engineering talents while shaking semiconductor wafers and photomasks, and on the other hand, we consider tripling medical school quotas. Does this mean top-tier science and engineering talents should jump into research and development, or that people should strive to become medical students? Who should be held responsible for Korea’s growth engine breaking down while pressing both the accelerator and brake simultaneously?

With an increasing number of fake students?those who are only nominally enrolled?especially in local universities, is blindly pouring more tax money into university tuition support the education reform we desire? Are we blind to the waste of citizens’ taxes driven by fear of votes from private school foundations and teachers?

If the low birthrate has led to a shortage of soldiers to guard the front lines, a responsible political stance would be to propose an active troop reduction plan. If we refuse to even discuss troop reduction because it was mentioned during the Moon Jae-in administration, that is stubbornness. If the alternative born from extreme denial of the opponent is to put even severely obese individuals weighing over 120kg in military uniforms and station them at the armistice line, that is the true face of irresponsible politics.

If we remove killer questions and exclude calculus and geometry from the college entrance exam, must students develop discrimination skills through so-called "attractive wrong answers" within the reduced evaluation scope? How are students who have not properly learned or been tested on vectors and calculus in high school supposed to compete with overseas science and engineering talents?

When someone addresses the National Pension issue, everyone predicts the conclusion will be raw: receiving less, later, and more. How can this be fundamental pension reform when it is just a fever reducer? The funded National Pension has reached its limit facing the low birthrate, and if things continue as they are, the generation currently paying into the pension will not receive it. Why can’t we start the honest conversation about gradually preparing for a shift to a pay-as-you-go system?

Most politicians in Korea, including the president, cannot solve the problems I mentioned above. This is because those in power will not be in politics for more than ten years at most. Their politics is about managing so that no major problems occur during their term or political life. How can such politics be future-oriented?

Unlike these irresponsible current rulers, I am likely to live for another 30 years to be evaluated for my claims and choices. Whose alternatives and proposals will be more truthful and urgent? Why did France’s Macron risk losing votes to push pension reform? Ultimately, Macron must face the wave of pension depletion in his lifetime, so he must act responsibly and truthfully.

Logic and reason have vanished, and barbarism runs rampant, writing Korea’s future vision with a blade that divides good and evil. Someone might tell me that a protruding stone gets hammered, that I should never stand out and rely on a big group. The only thing I believe in is the power of courage and righteousness. I will not fear or be tamed by that blade for personal glory.

Today, I am revealing my intentions in Sanggye-dong because I want to stand at a new starting line in politics and reaffirm why I do politics. I love my hometown Sanggye-dong because it is a place where the lives of very average people are reflected. It is a district with a population of 200,000, and many people have passed through it, so anyone listening now likely has acquaintances in Sanggye-dong.

A city of hardworking people, a city with more dreams for the future than possessions.

Though a Seoul citizen, those who must commute the longest distances and endure living in rebuilt apartments for good school districts carry hopes for a "better tomorrow than today" despite current inconveniences. Wherever and whenever I do politics, I will create a world where the education expenses of children like Dan, who save and sacrifice for their food and enjoyment, are worthwhile, as the people of Sanggye-dong wish. I will also remember the fatigue of a family head dozing off during the 20-minute crowded subway ride on Line 4 from Sanggye-dong to Dongdaemun History & Culture Park, holding the subway handrail.

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is holding a press conference announcing his withdrawal from the party at a restaurant in Nowon-gu, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Korea must become a country where hardworking people have a better tomorrow than today.

Living in Sanggye-dong, surrounded by government employee rental apartments and military apartments, I have heard much about the one million government employees. Therefore, in the future I envision, no one will be forced to teach children anything other than love for children and a sense of mission as a teacher, and soldiers protecting the country will not have to find loyalty beyond the nation and its people. The painful story of a teacher at Seo-i Elementary School and the hardships of Colonel Park Jeong-hoon must never be repeated, but the political world already hopes these issues will be forgotten without any solutions, covered by new issues. The new party I am forming will never forget or overlook these pains and injustices.

If you think the words of someone uncertain who might create a few seats are unreliable and their promises unguaranteed, then please give us more seats. The stock you will hold for life with the highest return will be your support and encouragement invested in this new party. Please leave a future-oriented Korea as an inheritance without inheritance tax to your children and grandchildren.

There is debate about whether Lee Jun-seok has the money or people to lead a party. Just as winning a party convention with 30 million won was an empirical example of political reform, if I succeed in building a party without money to distribute or organizations to mobilize, the culture of politics will change dramatically.

I invite all Korean citizens to future politics. When you participate, please give just a spoonful of rice each. Remember the piggy bank collected for President Roh Moo-hyun; now, 20 years later, with more advanced means, why should we think that method is impossible?

Having led a major party, I have a reliable backing when taking on a new challenge. In the recently aired JTBC drama , Jin Do-jun talks about how a shrimp can defeat a whale.

"You grow the shrimp’s size. Not so big that it bursts in a whale fight. If you don’t give up, isn’t time on the shrimp’s side?"

While two whales that can only bite each other fight, I will calmly grow by embracing the hopes of many citizens and the future, nourished by the rice you gather spoon by spoon.

Citizens, after the winter covered in snow when everyone shrinks, spring comes. That is why democratization was inevitable, even if someone tried to stop it.

Politics that turns opposing political forces into symbols of evil, villains, and pits them as gladiators in a colosseum becomes like a full moon (Wolryun, 月輪), whereas productive politics that talks about the future grows like a waxing crescent moon (Wolsin, 月新). The fearsome law of nature is that this is an unavoidable future.

Snow always melts. Therefore, spring always comes. The full moon always sets. And the crescent moon always waxes.

In April next year, I will devote all my efforts so that a new party representing not just one president but the dreams of Sanggye-dong and the concerns of ordinary democratic citizens can represent you. When we nurture the future with the language of hope, voting will never again feel like a difficult killer question. Today, I promise you, citizens, that the day will come when you can make happy choices for yourself, your family, and your country.

I will walk my own Next STEP from now on. With confidence in change and victory, I will enjoy this path. I will do my utmost so that my promise today may be recorded in history as the "Sanggye-dong Mapo Charcoal Grilled Ribs Declaration."

So that Korea preparing for tomorrow will not leave you behind.