Jin Joong-kwon: "The Reason for the People Power Party's Regression? Because They Ousted Lee Jun-seok"

Lee Jun-seok, Focused on Normalizing the People Power Party During His Leadership
"The Ruling Party Regressed in Two Directions After Ousting Lee Jun-seok"

Jin Joong-kwon, Special Professor at Kwangwoon University, pointed to the expulsion of Lee Jun-seok, a reformist lawmaker from the New Party, as the cause of the ruling party's crisis following the emergency martial law situation on the 3rd.

In a post on his Facebook on the 13th, Professor Jin wrote, "By pushing out Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party regressed in two ways," adding, "One is the 'River of Impeachment.' During the party leader election, Lee Jun-seok went down to TK (Daegu·Gyeongbuk) and declared, 'We must cross the River of Impeachment,' confronting the issue head-on." He said, "By electing him as the leader, the People Power Party briefly crossed the River of Impeachment."

On July 25, 2021, Lee Jun-seok, then leader of the People Power Party, and President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was preparing to run for the presidential election, met at a chicken restaurant in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, sharing beers. Photo by joint press.

Lee's so-called 'River of Impeachment' remark dates back to when he took office as the new leader of the People Power Party three years ago. On June 3 of that year, at a joint speech event for the party leader election held in Daegu, he appealed to the local residents, saying, "I believe the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye was justified," urging them to cross the 'River of Impeachment.'

Following former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, deep divisions remained within the People Power Party for years. His remarks were intended to reconcile differences and look toward the future to regain power. However, after the declaration of emergency martial law, the People Power Party once again became embroiled in conflict over the pros and cons of the presidential impeachment motion.

Professor Jin cited 'election manipulation theories' as the second regression. He explained, "Before and after Lee's election as leader, he criticized forces spreading conspiracy theories like election rigging, even at the cost of receiving much abuse from far-right YouTubers," adding, "Thanks to him, they were successfully marginalized within the party."

Jin Joong-kwon, Special Professor at Kwangwoon University, argued that Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, is at the center of the political crisis currently faced by the ruling party. Photo by Facebook capture

In fact, during his tenure as leader of the People Power Party, Lee focused on separating the influence of so-called 'far-right YouTubers' who claimed election fraud within the party.

In a post on his personal social media on the 5th, Lee lamented, "I struggled so much to stop the election fraud (allegation) forces whenever they caused chaos around me, but in the end, (President Yoon) was influenced by these people," adding, "Election fraud advocates have been cutting into the conservative camp since 2020."

Regarding this, Professor Jin said, "Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of martial law was a phenomenon caused by bringing conspiracy theories from the periphery to the center," and "Even though President Yoon caused metaphysical-scale chaos, the party ultimately failed to expel him because they immediately recrossed the River of Impeachment they had just crossed." In other words, he diagnosed that the current crisis stems from the nullification of Lee's efforts to restore the People Power Party as a moderate party during his leadership.

Professor Jin added, "This time, the ruling party is talking about expelling (Han Dong-hoon) as leader," and sharply criticized, "It's pathetic to see them still doing this even after witnessing the disastrous outcome of such actions."