"I will repay with better politics," Lee delivers his message
Reform New Party: "In surplus even without campaign expense reimbursement"
On June 4, Lee Junseok, former presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, congratulated President Lee Jaemyung on his inauguration, stating, "There is no room to consider party lines or factions when overcoming the difficulties of the economy and people's livelihoods together." On the 4th, Lee posted on social media, "Congratulations to Lee Jaemyung on his inauguration as the 21st president," and continued, "The fact that both expectations and concerns accompany this new beginning is ultimately because everyone hopes that the Republic of Korea will move toward a better path."
Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, visited the party's vote counting situation room set up in the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 3rd after checking the exit poll results announced by the three major broadcasters. He shared his thoughts and greeted party members. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
He went on to say, "As an opposition lawmaker and the National Assembly member representing Dongtan, I will begin to address, one by one, the tasks I had temporarily set aside over the past few months," emphasizing, "From now on, it is a new beginning." Lee also expressed his gratitude, saying, "The reason I was able to complete this race until the end was thanks to the support and trust of those who stood with me. I will repay the time we have walked together with even better politics going forward."
Following the presidential election, there has been public attention on whether Lee Junseok will be reimbursed for his campaign expenses. Seo Jinseok, deputy spokesperson for the Reform New Party’s election committee, stated, "All campaign expenses have already been covered by donations." According to the National Election Commission, Lee received 2,917,523 votes in the 21st presidential election held on the 3rd, recording a vote share of 8.34%. The commission reimburses campaign expenses within the limit of 58.85 billion won. If a candidate receives 15% or more of the valid votes, the party or candidate is fully reimbursed for campaign expenses. If the candidate receives between 10% and 15%, half of the expenses are reimbursed. If less than 10%, there is no reimbursement. As Lee did not reach a 10% vote share, he failed to qualify for reimbursement.
Reform New Party lawmakers Junseok Lee and Haram Cheon are attending the 21st presidential inauguration oath ceremony held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 4th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim
Although Lee rejected the proposal to unify candidates with the People Power Party and completed his presidential run, both he and the Reform New Party are now left to deal with the issue of campaign expenses. Lee's campaign expenses are estimated to be at least 3 billion won. Some have claimed that Lee would face a major crisis due to these expenses. However, according to Deputy Spokesperson Seo, it appears that Lee will not have to personally shoulder the campaign costs.
On June 2, the day before the presidential election, Seo shared a social media post from a user who wrote, "I feel sorry for Lee Junseok's supporters, but I have a feeling that because Lee Junseok won't reach 10% of the vote, he will have to pay back billions in campaign debt, retire from politics, and become a taxi driver." Seo dismissed this by saying, "We have already covered all campaign expenses with donations; even if we return all party subsidies, we are still in surplus." Furthermore, Seo added in a subsequent post, "The Reform New Party and candidate Lee Junseok ran this presidential campaign solely with donations, without spending any party subsidies," emphasizing, "This was possible because we knew how precious the donations from party members and the taxpayer-funded party subsidies were, and we did not spend them carelessly."
He also addressed criticism that Lee lost the election because he did not accept the proposal for candidate unification from Kim Moonsoo of the People Power Party, stating, "The 2,917,523 people who voted for Lee Junseok did so not only because they disliked Lee Jaemyung, but also as a judgment against the People Power Party, which showed no remorse after causing martial law and rebellion. Therefore, these votes could not simply be transferred to Kim Moonsoo through unification." He continued, "I hope there will be no more baseless slander and attacks claiming that Lee lost the election because he did not agree to unification."
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