"Is It Enough to Replace Just One Slice of Bug-Infested Pizza?"... Lee Jin-sook Calls for Full Re-Election

"No Reason for Jang Donghyuk to Resign
Polls Also Show Ruling Party Ahead"

Amid the controversy over ballot shortages and election management issues during the June 3 local elections, Lee Jin-sook, a member of the People Power Party, argued for the necessity of a re-election. She also actively defended Jang Donghyuk, Chairman of the People Power Party, stating that there is no reason for him to resign.

In an interview on June 17 with YTN Radio’s “Jang Sung-chul’s News Myeongdang,” Lee was asked whether she agreed with Chairman Jang’s assertion that a full re-election is needed in seven areas—Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, Busan, Ulsan, Gwangju-Jeonnam, and North Chungcheong Province—where ballot shortages or missing voter lists occurred, particularly mentioning North Chungcheong Province. She responded with an analogy involving pizza.

Lee said, “If you divide a pizza into eight or six slices and one slice has a bug, what if the pizza shop owner suggests replacing only that slice? I believe the problem is not limited to just one slice; fundamentally, the entire round pizza is problematic, and one could even assume that all pizzas baked by the shop that day have an issue.” She added, “So, only redoing the election in certain regions? I’m not so sure,” thereby supporting Chairman Jang’s position.

Jang Donghyuk, Leader of the People Power Party (left), and Lee Jinsuk, Member of the People Power Party. Photo by Yonhap News

"People Power Party Performed Well in Local Elections, No Reason for Jang Donghyuk to Resign"

Regarding calls from some within the party for Jang Donghyuk to step down due to responsibility for the local election defeat, Lee strongly countered, saying, “I believe there is absolutely no reason for him to resign.” She stressed, “Despite the favorable environment for the ruling party during the first year of the Lee Jaemyung administration, the People Power Party performed well.” She continued, “In fact, looking at recent opinion polls, the People Power Party is evaluated as having significantly outpaced the Democratic Party. Evaluating these results as being unrelated to Jang Donghyuk, and then admitting defeat in the election while insisting Jang should take responsibility, is something I honestly cannot understand.”

She further stated, “According to recent opinion polls, the People Power Party, which had previously lagged behind the Democratic Party in approval ratings, now appears to be significantly ahead. I don’t know who should take credit for these results, but it doesn’t seem right to say Jang Donghyuk had nothing to do with it,” implying that since Chairman Jang has put the party on an upward trajectory, there is no reason for him to step down.

"The Incident Undermining Democracy Must Be Investigated"... Rebuking Oh Se-hoon

In response to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s criticism that Chairman Jang’s call for a re-election was a “wasteful claim to maintain party leadership,” Lee said, “I don’t think the party chairman is making such claims just to hold on to his position. Rather, I believe it is only right to do so in order to investigate an incident that undermined democracy.”

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