Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok recognizes his mother's tears aided his victory

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Published: 11 Apr. 2024, 16:34 Updated: 11 Apr. 2024, 18:53

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok recognizes his mother's tears aided his victory

Reform Party leader and former People Power Party (PPP) leader Lee Jun-seok speaks during his appearance in a CBS radio show on Thursday, a day after the April 10 general election. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Reform Party leader and former People Power Party (PPP) chief Lee Jun-seok said that his mother's tears "moved voters' hearts and minds."

Lee won a parliamentary seat representing Hwaseong-B District in Gyeonggi in the April 10 general election.

Appearing on a CBS radio show on Thursday, lawmaker-elect Lee shared how his exile from the PPP angered conservatives and exposed the problems of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s politics.

He said that Yoon's politics “wounded" the conservative base by "shoving away [party heavyweights like] Ahn Cheol-soo, Na Kyung-won, Kim Gi-hyeon, Yoo Seong-min and myself.”

He also said that Yoon only credited himself for winning the presidency.

Lee’s parents — who are both from Daegu and North Gyeongsang conservative stronghold regions — have always rooted for the conservative party.

"As parents, they [certainly] had different [and unbearable] experiences while watching their son being mistreated as I fought against the Yoon administration," Lee said.

“Yoon not only destroyed my family, but also families of Marine Corps' Colonel Park Jung-hun who has roots in Pohang in North Gyeongsang and served the country for more than two decades,” Lee said.

Park was dismissed from the military for insubordination last November after he investigated the death of Lance Corporal Chae Su-geun, who died last July while searching for missing people amid heavy rains and flooding.

Lee Jun-seok's mother, center, holds a microphone on a campaigning car on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

At a campaign rally on April 7, Lee's mother got emotional while sharing the experience of seeing his son getting dethroned from the PPP.

She said she pretended as if nothing happened out of concern that any words of consolation would "trigger emotions and break Lee's heart." But after serving Lee a meal, she cried alone for three hours in a parking lot.

“I realized that I needed to be stronger and more patient to support my son as he would continue his political career,” she said in tears.

Lee finally made his way into the National Assembly after losing three times in prior elections in 2016, 2018 and 2020. The 2018 election was a by-election.

In Wednesday’s election, Lee won 42.41 percent of the total 122,944 votes cast in his electoral district.

BY HAN JEE-HYE, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]