Controversy Over Remark "We Criticized Yoon Suk-yeol, Is the President Doing the Same?"... Democratic Party Spokesperson Lee Jieun Resigns

Clarifies: "I Meant to Say Our President Is Different from Yoon, Not the Same"

"We used to harshly criticize Yoon Suk-yeol for handpicking someone to make them party leader, and now I can't help but wonder, 'Is the President really doing the same thing right now? Surely not.'"

At the summit held on April 29, 2024, at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, President Jae-myung Lee (left) and former President Seok-youl Yoon were present. Photo by Yonhap News

Lee Jieun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, who sparked controversy by comparing President Lee Jae-myung to former President Yoon Suk-yeol, announced her intention to resign as spokesperson on June 10.

On her Facebook page that day, Lee stated, "If my ability to communicate is so lacking that I cannot fully convey my intentions to the public, then I have concluded that I should not continue serving as the ruling party's spokesperson."

Lee explained, "On air, I said, 'Our President is different from Yoon Suk-yeol.' However, it seems that listeners heard, 'Our President is the same as Yoon Suk-yeol.' My intention was to ask, 'We harshly criticized Yoon Suk-yeol for such actions, so is our President really doing the same? Surely not.'"

She added, "There was really no need to bring up Yoon Suk-yeol's name as an example," and acknowledged, "Regardless of my intention, if my remarks have burdened the party because I failed to communicate my true meaning, I must admit that this demonstrates my inadequacy as a spokesperson."

Democratic Party Spokesperson Lee Jieun. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Previously, on a YouTube broadcast the day before, she commented on President Lee's first anniversary press conference, after interpretations emerged that it signaled support for Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in the upcoming party leader election. She said, "We used to harshly criticize Yoon Suk-yeol for handpicking someone to make them party leader, and now I can't help but wonder if the President is doing the same thing right now."

She also remarked, "In the past, I heard that presidents always picked the party leader." This was interpreted as referring to suspicions that former President Yoon Suk-yeol supported Representative Kim Gi-hyeon as the next party leader amid his conflict with former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok.

Her remarks, as someone considered part of the 'pro-Cheong Cheong-rae' faction, drew strong criticism within the party. Many posts calling for her resignation or disciplinary action flooded online communities frequented by supporters of President Lee. As a result, the party leadership discussed whether to discipline her in a closed Supreme Council meeting.

Lee, a former police officer, was recruited as a Democratic Party talent in January 2024 and ran in Seoul Mapo-gap in the 22nd general election, but was not elected. Since then, she has served as the Mapo-gap district chairperson and as a Democratic Party spokesperson.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.