Lee Jun-seok discusses ‘political reform’ with Geum Tae-seop

Lee Jun-seok, the former leader of the People Power Party, and Geum Tae-seop, the chairman of the New Choice Party Foundation Preparation Committee, convened a private lunch meeting on Friday. The meeting, orchestrated by Kim Jong-in, the former People Power Party Emergency Response Committee Chairman, said, “You two will have no choice but to work together.” This suggests the possibility of an emerging alliance between Lee, who advocated for establishing a new party in Yeongnam, and Chairman Geum, who declared his intention to establish a new party within the year.

On that day, Lee and Geum held a lunch meeting with Kim at a restaurant near Gwanghwamun in Seoul. Following the meeting, former Representative Lee shared on Facebook, “This marked my initial opportunity to engage in discussions with Chairman Geum regarding political reform.” Geum mentioned in a phone call, “We had numerous fruitful conversations due to our shared interests.” When speaking with reporters, Kim said the meeting aimed at fostering collaboration and advancing together as a unified force.”

Concerning the potential co-founding of a new party with Geum, Lee said, “I am certainly open to it.” Following the meeting, he appeared on the CBS YouTube channel, saying, “We agreed that, instead of merging with another entity to form a new party, we should establish an entirely authorized party. I didn't observe any substantial disagreements during our discussions, so I’m not ruling out the possibility of working together.”

Meanwhile, the People Power Party was “skeptical” regarding the viability of Lee’s new party gaining traction. Chief Spokesperson Park Jeong-ha remarked on SBS Radio that day, “Political animosity is intensifying, and voter turnout is slightly diminishing. Given this current situation and structure, there are doubts about how successfully a third party can establish itself in the constituency.”


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