Lee Jun-seok: "In the Next Presidential Election, Candidates with 'Scientific Thinking' Should Step Forward Rather Than Legal Experts"

"Lawyers, always detaining people and only protecting themselves"
"Last presidential election, just comparing who was more evil"
"We still don't know Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol's policies"

Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, hinted at the possibility of running if an early presidential election is confirmed following the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol. He expressed to Asia Economy that rather than lawyers taking the forefront in the next presidential election, candidates capable of scientific thinking should step forward.

In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 15th, Lee said, "There are many issues to address amid changes in South Korea's industry, economy, and science and technology, both domestically and internationally," adding, "There are too many lawyers coming forward, only talking about putting opponents in jail and getting themselves out of trouble."

He continued, "I hope the next presidential election will feature fewer lawyers and more people with scientific thinking, so that the election is fought over valuable agendas," emphasizing, "I also plan to play a role."

Lee stated, "With Yoon Seok-yeol, Han Dong-hoon, Lee Jae-myung, Cho Kuk, Na Kyung-won, Kwon Seong-dong, and others?all lawyers by training?at the forefront of politics, all they seem to know how to do is catch people and imprison them or shield themselves," adding, "It needs to change now."

Lee graduated early from Seoul Science High School and then attended KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) before dropping out. He later double-majored in Computer Science and Economics at Harvard University in the United States. Given that both former President Moon Jae-in and President Yoon Seok-yeol are lawyers, and that Lee Jae-myung, the current leading presidential candidate and leader of the Democratic Party, is also a lawyer, Lee appears to emphasize scientific thinking as a distinguishing factor from them.

Lee said, "The last presidential election was held amid extreme polarization, with candidates lacking the ability to present future discourse," adding, "Instead of focusing on the future or vision, the election took the form of comparing who was more evil, with allegations like the Daejang-dong scandal or controversies involving each candidate's spouse."

He continued, "As a result, even after the presidential election, we still do not know the economic, diplomatic, or educational policies of the two candidates." Both President Yoon and Lee Jae-myung, candidates in the 20th presidential election, were lawyers, and their 'judicial thinking' emphasized only issues of good and evil, preventing their policies from coming to the forefront.

Lee has not yet officially declared his candidacy for the presidential election. There remains a variable in that his possibility of running depends on the timing of the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of President Yoon. Attention is focused on whether Lee, who entered the National Assembly for the first time in the 22nd general election after four attempts, will challenge the presidential election.