Eonju Lee Announces Candidacy for Democratic Supreme Council Member... "I Will Take on Someone Like Donghun Han"

Lee Eon-ju, a three-term member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Gyeonggi Yongin Jung), declared her candidacy for the Supreme Council member election in the August 18 party convention on the 7th, saying, "It will most certainly help expand the party's reach to include 'Democratic conservatives.'"

Lee Eon-ju, Democratic Party of Korea member [Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee, who switched her party affiliation from the People Power Party earlier this year, held a press conference at the National Assembly in the afternoon, emphasizing that she is from Yeongnam and belongs to the '97 generation' (students of the 1990s, born in the 1970s). She said, "I will expand the party's reach to the Yeongnam region and the 2030 generation to lead the upcoming election victory."

Conscious of criticism that she has been away from the Democratic Party for a long time, Lee said, "So what if I am less familiar with party members? So what if I haven't been in the party for a long time? What matters is efficacy." She emphasized, "Among the candidates for Supreme Council member, is there anyone who has confronted the Yoon Seok-yeol administration as strongly and for as long as I have?" Regarding Han Dong-hoon, a candidate for the People Power Party leadership, she said, "He cannot compete with former leader Lee Jae-myung. I will take on someone like Han Dong-hoon."

Born in Busan, Lee was elected in the 19th general election in 2012 as a member of the Democratic United Party representing Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and was re-elected in the 2016 general election. In April 2017, she declared support for Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People's Party at the time, and switched to the People's Party. She then moved through the Bareunmirae Party, the United Future Party, and the People Power Party before returning to the Democratic Party last February after seven years, becoming a three-term lawmaker.