Youngest Presidential Candidate Lee Junseok Urges: "Will You Return to the Past or Choose to Open the Future?"

"The Future Erased by Yoon Sukyeol and Lee Jaemyung, Who Look to the Past"
Pledge to Restructure and Reduce Ministries from 19 to 13
Entered Politics in 2011... Youngest Presidential Candidate at Age 40

Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, visited Yeosu, Jeollanam-do in the early morning of the 12th, immediately after the official campaign for the 21st presidential election began. He declared, "I will transform politics from being unproductive to one that shares and competes over visions for the future." Lee defined this election as a choice between "returning to the past or moving toward the future," and asserted that he is the only candidate representing the future.

At midnight on this day, Lee was the first to begin his campaign by visiting the petrochemical industrial complex in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do. He visited the Kumho P&B Chemicals plant within the Yeosu Industrial Complex, greeted night-shift workers, and inspected the current state of the industrial complex. He stated, "To overcome the recent difficulties faced by the Yeosu petrochemical complex, I will implement a reshoring policy that allows local labor regulations and wage levels to be maintained." This is the second item on his list of policy priorities. Additionally, he pledged to reorganize and reduce the current 19 government ministries to 13, and to grant local governments the authority to levy corporate taxes, among other major policy promises.

Lee emphasized the slogan "A Choice to Open the Future" for his presidential campaign. He argued, "The future of Korea has been erased by Yoon Sukyeol and Lee Jaemyung, who are people looking to the past, and Korea has fallen behind in the face of international competition." He added, "If the Lee Junseok administration is launched, Korean politics will put an end to unproductive politics that focus on sending people to jail or shielding them from prosecution over past incidents."

Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, is visiting the Yeosu 2 Plant of Kumho P&B Chemicals in Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do, in the early morning of the 12th, the first day of official campaign activities for the 21st presidential election, to inspect the site. (Photo by Reform New Party Election Headquarters)

Born in 1985, Lee is 40 years old this year, making him the youngest candidate in this presidential race. He graduated from Seoul Science High School and majored in computer science and economics at Harvard University in the United States. He began his social activities by founding an educational volunteer organization. In 2011, he entered politics when he was appointed as a member of the emergency committee by Park Geunhye, then acting chairperson of the Grand National Party’s emergency committee. In 2021, at the age of 36, he became the first chairman of the main opposition People Power Party.

However, he later stepped down from the party leadership after experiencing multiple internal conflicts, tests of leadership, and impeachment crises. In 2023, he left the People Power Party and founded the Reform New Party. Last year, he ran in the April 10 general election for the Hwaseong-eul constituency in Gyeonggi Province and was elected. When announcing his candidacy for this presidential election, he declared, "I will move forward, not to the left or right. I will be the 'first penguin' who leads the way for the future of Korea."