Reform Party nominates Lee Jun-seok as candidate for possible presidential election
Published: 18 Mar. 2025, 17:46
![Splinter conservative Reform Party Rep. Lee Jun-seok shakes hands with his supporter before speaking at a press conference held at Mapo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 2. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/18/ffffc8a3-b0ed-46ad-afc5-ec2c51fd6d67.jpg)
Splinter conservative Reform Party Rep. Lee Jun-seok shakes hands with his supporter before speaking at a press conference held at Mapo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 2. [NEWS1]
Reform Party Rep. Lee Jun-seok was nominated on Tuesday as his party's candidate in the event of an impeachment-induced presidential election.
The splinter conservative party held an online vote for its sole presidential election nominee with the help of the National Election Committee (NEC) on Sunday and Monday. 39,914 out of 77,364 party members voted.
Lee’s nomination comes before the Constitutional Court’s ruling of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.
“There is a sense of haste, but there is a precedent of presidential election nominees being selected during the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye,” said Ham Ik-byeong, election chairperson of the Reform Party.
Born on March 31, 1985, Rep. Lee is 39 years old. Under the Constitution, presidential candidates must meet the eligibility criteria for National Assembly elections and be at least 40 years old on the day of the election.
If the president dies, resigns, or is disqualified, a presidential election must be held within 60 days of the event being finalized. With the Constitutional Court extensively mulling the ruling of Yoon's impeachment, Lee is may find the opportunity to run for president.
Lee, who was ousted as conservative People Power Party (PPP) chief in 2022 over sexual bribery allegations, has often clashed with the pro-Yoon faction within the party.
The Harvard graduate was elected PPP chairman in June 2021, becoming the youngest-ever leader of the PPP and its previous incarnations at 36.
Young male voters in their 20s to 40s form his key political base, presumably due to Lee's often brazen anti-feminist rhetoric.
In one such example, Lee told the Korea Economic Daily in 2021 that he believes that “women in their 20s and 30s have clearly developed a baseless victim mentality, thinking they are being discriminated against, through novels, films and other media.”
Lee cited U.S. presidents and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Feb. 2 in a speech widely regarded as his bid for president, calling for a generational change of guard.
“John F. Kennedy sent a person to the moon after becoming a leader of the United States at the age of 43, and Barack Obama became the first Black president at the age of 46,” said Lee.
“Like U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, we need to cut out all inefficiency in the public sector, even if there isn’t a dedicated government efficiency department.”
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)