Lee Junseok on Lee Gukjong's 'Taljoseon' Remarks: "We Need to Take a Hard Look at the State of This Country"

Lee Junseok Cites Lee Gukjong's Remarks to Military Doctors
"Too Many Sloppy Decisions Ignoring Professional Expertise"
"Lee Jaemyung and Han Donghoon's Numbers Game... Yoon Sukyeol-Style Delusions"

Director Lee Gukjong of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital drew attention after it became known that he told military doctors during a lecture, "My life is ruined. You should leave Korea (Taljoseon)." In response, Lee Junseok, the Reform New Party presidential pre-candidate running in the June 3 presidential election, shared his opinion. On April 15, Lee stated on social media, "I will pave a new path of science, reason, rationality, and problem-solving so that we can change the DNA of the Republic of Korea."

Lee Junseok, Reform New Party Presidential Pre-candidate. Office of Lee Junseok

Lee Junseok commented, "If someone like Professor Lee Gukjong is saying, 'My life is ruined. You should leave Korea,' then we really need to take a cold, hard look at the situation in this country." He continued, "There are numerous cases where high-ranking officials, ignorant of the realities on the ground and disregarding professional expertise, have made haphazard decisions on critical national matters, only to make things worse. A prime example is when the president became fixated on the number '2000' and nearly doubled the medical school admissions quota all at once, which led to the collapse of the healthcare system."

Lee further stated, "Now, once again, candidate Lee Jaemyung is making a spectacle, latching onto trendy keywords, saying things like he will invest 100 trillion won in AI or make Korea a basic AI nation. This is a carbon copy of Yoon Sukyeol-style delusions. Please, let's stop this mindless numbers game." He added, "After Lee Jaemyung mentioned a 100 trillion won AI investment, candidate Han Donghoon responded with 200 trillion won. Is this a casino or an auction house? Whose money is this? Is it your own? Are you planning to gamble with borrowed money?"

He criticized, "The numbers 100 or 200 are not the result of calculating the required amount, but are just blurted out blindly, as if feeling an elephant's leg. Is the AI industry supposed to develop this way? Whenever someone earns a bit, they are hit with a tax bomb, new regulations are created, a significant portion of income is withheld as quasi-taxes, and politicians who say all we need to do is say 'xiexie' to China dare to aspire to the presidency. In a world like this, how can we tell future generations to have hope?" He concluded, "Lee Junseok will open a new path forward, neither left nor right, but with overwhelming innovation."

Lee Gukjong, Director of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The previous day, an online community post spread the content of a lecture given by Director Lee, the nation's leading authority in the field of severe trauma, to military doctors in Goesan, North Chungcheong Province. During the lecture, Director Lee reportedly made frank remarks such as, "The Joseon Peninsula is a country run by liberal arts types who do nothing but talk," "If you don't like the temple, the monk should leave," and "If you don't want to spend your life being harassed by Seoul National University, Severance, old doctors, and government officials, then don't go into vital (essential) medicine."

Director Lee also reportedly mentioned the late Professor Yoon Handuk, who died from overwork. He said, "I spent my whole life working in trauma surgery, but nothing ever changes. My life is ruined. Professor Yoon Handuk, who worked with me in trauma surgery, died from overwork. Don't end up like us."