[So Jongseop's Sokterview] Lee Junseok "Multi-term lawmakers of Kukhim are collaborators, Han Donghoon seems to be mistaken"

"Lee Jae-myung will run even if convicted in the appellate court"
"Kim Moon-soo could become the People Power Party candidate"
"My goal is to be elected president. Major changes are coming"

He entered politics in 2011 as an emergency committee member of the Saenuri Party and has always been a 'figure of controversy and discussion' at the center of issues. At the age of 35 in 2021, he became the leader of the first opposition party, instantly entering the political spotlight, but was ousted from the party leadership after coming to power. Taking on a new challenge by founding the Reform New Party, he made a legendary comeback by running in the barren electoral district of Hwaseong-si Eul (Dongtan) in Gyeonggi Province in last year's general election, achieving success on his fourth attempt. On the 2nd of last month, he declared his candidacy for the presidential election, advocating the 'generation of the 40s' theory. On the afternoon of the 17th at 4 p.m., we met with Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party. Appearing on 'AK Radio,' a YouTube channel operated by Asia Economy, he answered various current issues fluently for an hour. His style of enjoying debates and clearly stating his position on matters remained unchanged that day.

What has changed the most before and after becoming a member of the National Assembly?

You have to handle a lot of local civil complaints. Usually, National Assembly members share this work with city or district council members, but since the Reform New Party did not participate in local elections, the National Assembly members have to do it all. Most of the time is spent responding to these issues.

How do you commute to and from work?

Having become a resident of Gyeonggi Province, I see that the metropolitan transportation network needs a lot of improvement. In Seoul's Nowon district, everything is connected by subway or bus, but in Dongtan, the entire transportation network consists mainly of metropolitan buses to Seoul. It's serious. Many people ask if I take the GTX, but since the station is about 20 minutes away, I mostly use metropolitan buses.

Assemblyman Lee Jun-seok is being interviewed by Asia Economy's 'AK Radio' on the 17th.

After receiving your first salary as a National Assembly member, did you give your parents a gift?

My parents are very grateful that I have not taken money from home while doing politics. I have been sustaining myself for over 10 years by earning from broadcasting. I haven't given them money, but fortunately, I haven't had to spend any either.

Former leader Heo Eun-ah filed a lawsuit alleging breach of trust related to research services and website management.

There is nothing problematic. She claims I gave research contracts to 14 commentators, which is nonsense. In the National Assembly, non-negotiating parties receive 30 million won per member to conduct research necessary for legislative activities. This is National Assembly funding. I gave 5 contracts, Representative Cheon Ha-ram 5, and Representative Lee Ju-young 4. We submitted all results to the National Assembly Secretariat, and since there were no issues, it ended. There is no clause requiring reporting to the party.

Also, she claims why Representative Park Sung-min entrusted FGI and such, but the People Power Party and the Democratic Party have their own party research institutes with ARS machines, so they do it themselves. The Reform New Party doesn't have such facilities, so we have to outsource somewhere. That's why we entrusted it to the company run by Representative Park Sung-min. That company contracted with a research firm to carry out the project. The website costs and such are because former leader Heo has never developed a website and doesn't know what functions exist or how to reasonably estimate costs. There is no problem at all.

Assemblyman Lee Jun-seok emphasized that there is "no problem at all" regarding former Representative Heo Eun-ah's lawsuit filing.

According to a Gallup Korea poll released on the 15th, you rank first in 'unfavorability.' How do you feel about that?

Usually, the third-party candidate always ranks first from behind.

Does that mean you don't take it seriously?

Yes. Because previously, (as a third party) Representative Ahn Cheol-soo was first from behind. If you are not part of the two major parties, people tend to vote for the person they least want to vote for. If you look at the overall multi-party polls rather than individual ones, Representative Lee Jae-myung is overwhelmingly first. That's because he is perceived as a leading candidate. It depends on how you interpret it.

Some say your personality is too cold.

In politics, I have tried not to have close and distant people. Conflicts often arise because of this. People tell me to take care of people, but if you give what you shouldn't, it causes big problems. For example, 'Cheonhayongin' should not become a vested interest, so I treat them coldly. That's how you go big. It has to be meritocratic.

You had conflicts with former leader Sohn Hak-kyu, President Yoon Seok-youl, and former leader Heo Eun-ah. Some see this as a problem.

When Sohn Hak-kyu was leader, I was a Supreme Council member. At that time, the Yoo Seung-min and Ahn Cheol-soo factions all opposed Leader Sohn. I did not lead the conflict with him. And the conflict with President Yoon Seok-youl has now been clarified as to who is right or wrong, hasn't it? This is very important to me. People say I could get along well with President Yoon, but if that were the case, I would already be politically dead. If I had not criticized former President Park Geun-hye and had been a proportional representative lawmaker as a 'Park Geun-hye kid,' I would have already disappeared from the political scene. If you think everything will be fine by just being nice and saying 'good is good,' you get Frankenstein.

Assemblyman Lee Jun-seok said, "Representative Lee Jae-myung should request the judiciary to make a prompt decision regarding himself."

What do you think should be done if Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is convicted in the appellate court?

He would be in a very difficult position. Many scholars say that Article 84 of the Constitution's immunity privilege does not unconditionally protect crimes committed before becoming president. In fact, the chance of overturning a guilty verdict from the first or second trial at the Supreme Court is only about 2-3%. There is a 97-98% chance of losing eligibility to run, so there will inevitably be criticism about whether such a person should hold the presidency.

Would Lee still run even if convicted?

He would run. If the first trial had found him guilty of perjury coaching, it might be different, but the second trial for election law is close to disqualification, but it's like a rule in basketball. Since it's about breaking the rules of the game, it's different from crimes like murder. Those who dislike Representative Lee will criticize him strongly, but his core supporters will not see it as a big problem. However, it will affect the moderate voters. If the second trial verdict comes out before the election, the Supreme Court decision should come out immediately.

Are you saying the Supreme Court ruling should come before the presidential election?

That would be good. Otherwise, given the current situation, there is a possibility of a strange outcome. Representative Lee should rather request a quick judgment on himself. But now the trial has been delayed, wasting time.

Lee recently took a so-called 'right turn.' Will it be effective?

I don't think it will mean much. Lee himself may not want to admit it, but his political stance is known as the epitome of left-wing welfare policies. He doesn't seem like someone who would revive the economy or support businesses. Lee gave out welfare lavishly as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province. He has shown nothing from the perspective of making money or attracting businesses. Even if he takes a right turn, voters won't think Lee Jae-myung is the right person to revive the economy.

Minister Kim Moon-soo's ranking first in public opinion polls for over a month was assessed by Representative Lee Jun-seok as "having the potential to become a candidate."

In the People Power Party, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo is leading in approval ratings.

So the People Power Party's presidential election plan has completely collapsed. After the impeachment, there was an expectation of a showdown between Hong Joon-pyo, strong in party support, and Oh Se-hoon, strong in public support, but as the proportion of hardline conservative respondents increased, the 'Kim Moon-soo trend' formed. If Kim Moon-soo is advantageous both in party support and public support, changing the rules won't solve this situation.

Do you think Minister Kim could become the People Power Party's presidential candidate?

Looking back at the last impeachment presidential election, candidates registered within 4-5 days, and the primary lasted about 2-3 weeks. Would the Kim Moon-soo trend be broken within those 2-3 weeks? The time is too short. I also wondered how long this would last, but since it has continued for nearly a month, it seems possible.

Former leader Han Dong-hoon seems to be returning to politics soon.

Some people approach politics like solving multiple-choice questions. Han probably thinks that if you exclude Kim Moon-soo, Oh Se-hoon, and Hong Joon-pyo for various reasons, only he remains. This is the persimmon tree model. You think if you open your mouth under the persimmon tree, something will fall, but that doesn't happen. Even under the tree, there are people ahead of you with their mouths open. For example, if Minister Kim Moon-soo is defeated, will his support go to Leader Han Dong-hoon? It will go to Minister Won Hee-ryong. Han is ranked 3rd or 4th even under the persimmon tree.

Assemblyman Lee Jun-seok said, "Former Representative Han Dong-hoon seems to be following the persimmon tree model."

Does that mean Han has no chance of becoming the People Power Party candidate?

I don't know. During the primary, Han might show his hidden oratory skills or remarkable eloquence that he has kept secret until now. I don't know why he hid it. Politics partly changes with effort, but the unique character formed early on rarely changes. Han has already had many opportunities as emergency committee chairman and party leader. If he has hidden abilities for some reason, he should show them now, but there seems to be no particular reason to hide them.

Do you plan to cooperate with the People Power Party in the presidential election?

There is no reason. I was party leader and won the presidential election, but then there was chaos. I have no reason to go through that twice. No one reflects on that, and no one from the People Power Party has apologized to me after the sexual bribery allegations were cleared. Even though President Yoon Seok-youl has fallen so low, no one talks about it. In fact, those senior members of the People Power Party who are standing idly by now are collaborators of Yoon Seok-youl. They were silent or complicit when people were lynched under that regime.

Do you think you have a chance of winning?

This time, the possibility is higher than ever.

Representative Lee, who declared his candidacy for the presidential election, expressed confidence, saying, "This time, the possibility is higher than ever."

Why do you think so?

Lee Jae-myung's limitations have already been revealed. Whoever comes out from the People Power Party, I have too many questions to ask during TV debates. Do you think election fraud is right or wrong? Do you support impeachment or oppose it? Was the martial law legitimate? If you become president, will you pardon President Yoon Seok-youl? And so on. Either way, it will cause division. It's not the person's heart that will waver, but their greed.

Even if elected president, can you govern with only three seats in the Reform New Party?

Once political realignment begins, many more seats than the current People Power Party seats will gather. The ruling party in South Korea has great benefits, so realignment will naturally happen. No need to worry. French President Macron also had the presidential election first, then the general election. After winning the presidential election, if he wins overwhelmingly in the general election, then actual governance begins. Even in the current situation, it's quite possible. Realignment will happen immediately.

Is this realistic or just a vague possibility?

If there is a strong national desire to elect Lee Jun-seok as president and a public enthusiasm for generational change, wouldn't people want to join that movement? Who would want to be left behind by history?

You emphasized investment in education in your candidacy declaration.

We had to think about what South Korea should change from being a manufacturing-centered country. President Yoon Seok-youl had no such consideration and offered no alternatives. We are likely to face massive unemployment soon because hardware will be replaced by robots and software by AI. We must delay or compensate for this as much as possible. People losing jobs to robots and AI means human productivity is lower than that of robots or AI. Each person must engage in education much more intensely. This is a critical point that seems to be overlooked. Therefore, solid investment in education is necessary.

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You also said the seniority culture must be abolished.

I started politics at 27, became party leader, and won presidential and local elections. After former President Park Geun-hye, I am the only conservative party leader to win a nationwide election. I even won in the difficult three-party metropolitan elections. Yet people usually say to me, 'You still have to learn more.' They don't specify what exactly I need to learn. They say, 'You shouldn't do anything until you reach a certain age according to my judgment.'

Even someone like me who has achieved results faces this, so how many young people in society, companies, and other fields are suppressed by the older generation and cannot rise? I think this must be boldly broken. In fact, in no country in the world do they try to block young people from rising based on seniority.

You also emphasized deregulation as a key to overcoming South Korea's crisis.

In IT and bio sectors, many people want to try something, but many laws block them, forcing businesses to move overseas. To prevent this, I argued that any business possible in the U.S. should also be possible in South Korea. There should be no business allowed in the U.S. but prohibited in South Korea due to regulations. I call this the 'standard country system.' If clear standards are set, companies won't move to Japan for bio research or to the U.S. for IT business. This is very important.

I recently visited an infertility center, where there are many restrictions due to bioethics and other regulations in life science research. Many studies done in other countries cannot be done here because of South Korea's strict but questionable regulations. All these must be lifted. Scientists' creativity must never be blocked by regulations.

What are your goals for this year?

Other than aiming for election, I have no other goals. A very big change will happen this time. Martial law and impeachment were surprising, but after that, I think the People Power Party is heading toward the far-right path that many people wanted to block. Watching this makes me think a lot. I want to do politics comfortably, but why does the difficulty keep increasing like this...