단상斷想

In the third candidates' debate ahead of the 21st presidential election on June 4, 2025, the remarks of Lee Jun-seok, a member of the New Reform Party, were a symbolic scene showing how much wrong history the constitutional history of the Republic of Korea has gone through. A mishmash of all kinds of garbage has filled the past 80 years. It was a scene in which the stench of the rotten Korean Peninsula fish farm, created by the Japanese police, Japanese prosecutors, Japanese merchants, and Japanese politicians, was revealed. Lee Jun-seok left a deep scar on viewers who wanted to listen to the presidential candidate debate seriously, and at the same time, it was pathetic and shameful how Korea had fallen into a world where politics is done with such figures.

This figure will probably be a humiliation that the older generation will have to suffer once again when the MZ generation becomes the older generation. Unqualified politicians are rampant, and the insensitive public has elevated garbage with no concept to the position of a public figure with the heavy responsibility of a presidential candidate and a member of the National Assembly, and the entire nation has reached a point where it is severely paying the price for the history of not being able to clean up the garbage. We need to find out whose influence brought this kind of person into politics in the first place. Even if Lee Jun-seok was not a reckless person who threw himself away to this extent at first, if his qualifications as a politician were questionable, there should have been an adult around him who could have made it public. This country, where adults' scolding of human morality beyond social justice has disappeared, must never forgive the older generation who planted people like Lee Jun-seok in the political arena.

Lee Jun-seok's expression used to attack his opponent in the presidential candidate debate on May 27, 2025, went beyond simple political rhetoric and contained a violent depiction of the female body. This constitutes linguistic sexual violence that seriously undermines the dignity of women, and is assessed as instrumentalizing women's bodies for political purposes. In particular, the ripple effect is even more serious given that these remarks were made in a public arena, the presidential candidate debate, and in a situation where the entire nation was watching. A presidential candidate is the nation's top leader and must lead national unity, and has a duty to guarantee the dignity of all citizens. The fact that a person in such a position used hateful expressions targeting a specific gender is a serious problem that casts doubt on the level of democracy and human rights awareness in Korea. Considering the laxity of character verification, where these basic requirements for the qualifications of the president have been completely ignored for the past few years, this theory of presidential qualifications is truly just lip service. The lax verification of the virtues of a politician is not a very pleasant afterthought, as our inner thoughts are based on selfishness, which is determined by whether it serves my interests rather than character.

Lee Jun-seok's remarks were met with immediate and strong backlash from civil society. Voices demanding his resignation as a member of parliament grew louder, especially among women's organizations, and a petition demanding his expulsion from parliament was submitted to the National Assembly's public petition system, gaining over 340,000 signatures in just two days. This is a clear indicator of how seriously the public is taking this issue. Furthermore, the fact that progressive parties such as the Democratic Party of Korea, the Rebuilding Korea Party, the Progressive Party, the Basic Income Party, and the Social Democratic Party have joined forces to propose a disciplinary measure for expulsion from parliament signifies that the entire political sphere recognizes this issue as a matter concerning the fundamental values of democracy, beyond a simple political debate.

The role of the press is also an important issue. Objective and critical verification of politicians' statements and actions is a core element of democracy. However, the response of some media outlets in this case has been criticized for failing to properly convey the seriousness of the issue. Reducing inappropriate remarks by politicians to the level of a simple 'slip of the tongue' or dealing with them only in terms of political strife is an evasion of the social responsibility of the press. In particular, stricter standards should be applied to sexual harassment and misogynistic remarks, but it is problematic that some media outlets have approached this only as a political frame.

The press has a duty to clearly point out the impact of politicians' remarks on society and the discriminatory consciousness they contain. Our society, which gave Lee Jun-seok an excuse to claim a slip of the tongue, is, in some ways, all an accomplice. Lee Jun-seok issued an apology after the controversy spread, but this is not a matter that will end with a spoken apology. An apology is only the first step in admitting wrongdoing and is separate from taking actual responsibility. In particular, the reason why his apology is difficult to be accepted as sincere is because the statement appears to have been made with considerable preparation and intention, rather than an impromptu mistake. Furthermore, the fact that Representative Lee protested against the motion for disciplinary action to expel him from his position as a member of parliament, calling it "the prelude to the Yushin dictatorship," can be interpreted as an attitude of trying to evade responsibility for his wrongdoings. Connecting a legitimate demand for disciplinary action through democratic procedures to dictatorship is a logical leap and, rather, reveals a lack of understanding of democracy. Even if a young kid has no potential, there is a limit. It's like a poorly taught child slapping an adult's cheek, so I think the politics of the MZ generation will be truly miserable, and in their politics, the current older generation will appear old and useless trash.

Lee Jun-seok's resignation from his parliamentary seat is obvious.

First, his remarks are in direct conflict with the principles of human dignity and gender equality guaranteed by the Constitution. Article 10 of the Constitution stipulates the dignity and value of all citizens as human beings, and Article 11 prohibits discrimination based on gender. The fact that a member of the National Assembly made a statement that directly violates this constitutional spirit means that he is unqualified to perform his duties as a member of parliament.

Secondly, he has lost legitimacy as a representative of the people. Over 340,000 citizens are demanding his expulsion, which is an expression of the people's will to no longer recognize him as their representative. In a democratic system, a politician who has lost the public's trust should resign.

Thirdly, a clear precedent must be set for the improvement of political culture. If such remarks are simply glossed over with an apology, other politicians are more likely to make similar remarks in the future. Strict accountability must be enforced to make it clear that such behavior cannot be tolerated.

Of course, Lee Jun-seok's expulsion from the National Assembly is not an easy process. It requires the consent of more than two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly, and the fact is that no member of the National Assembly has ever been expelled in constitutional history. To that extent, solidarity among lawmakers is tacit in reality. There are few colleagues who will participate in bringing down those who have risen to that difficult and dirty position. Moreover, due to Lee Jae-myung's personnel issues, they are not even interested in Lee Jun-seok. Their minds are focused on their own reward distribution rather than the people's wishes and demands. However, the number of participants on the public petition bulletin board is already increasing, so you can see how great the public's antipathy toward Lee Jun-seok is. Since more than 50,000 people have agreed, it has been automatically referred to the standing committee of the National Assembly and will enter the formal review process of the National Assembly. It will probably be assigned to the Ethics Special Committee or the Gender Equality and Family Committee. Members of the Democratic Party, People Power Party, and other political parties must keep in mind that members of the National Assembly are elected by the people, so expulsion must also follow the will of the people.

Lee Jun-seok's remarks have become a touchstone for gauging the dignity and level of South Korean democracy, going beyond individual mistakes. Our society's response to this issue will set a benchmark for politicians' words and actions in the future. Yoon Suk-yeol becoming a presidential candidate is what made Lee Jun-seok run for president. Covering up something dirty with something else dirty is meaningless. If politicians are required to have higher moral standards than ordinary citizens, then people with lower moral standards than ordinary citizens should be filtered out from the start. This is because they bear a heavy responsibility as representatives of the people. Lee Jun-seok's resignation from his parliamentary seat is not simply a disciplinary action against him personally, but an important process of upholding the values and principles that our society pursues. Jun-seok, you should not cling to any more excuses or political debates, but sincerely apologize to the people and resign from your parliamentary seat. This is the true starting point for the political innovation you have been pursuing.