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Lee Jun-seok was elected the new leader of the main opposition People Power Party. (National Assembly photographers’ pool)

Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician, won the leadership election for the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), becoming the youngest-ever leader of a major political party in South Korea.

The PPP’s elections commission announced at the party convention Friday that Lee had won 55,820 votes among 149,194 voters and garnered 58.76 percent support in an opinion poll of the general public, which was factored into the final tally. Lee won a total of 93,392 votes, the commission said.

Lee, the new PPP leader, has been the face of millennials in the party as one of its few prominent younger members. He gained popularity over the past 10 years, breaking a stereotype of young politicians’ fame being seen as temporary and fading quickly after an electoral defeat.

Born in 1985, Lee is well-known for having studied at Seoul Science High School and Harvard University.

He entered politics in 2011 when he joined the Saenuri Party (today the PPP) as a member of an interim emergency leadership council at the recommendation of former President Park Geun-hye, becoming one of the “Park Geun-hye kids.” Before entering politics, he was a founder and head instructor for Baenasa, an educational non-profit organization.

In 2014, he served as chair of the Saenuri Party’s reform committee ahead of the 2014 by-elections and became the face of reform within the party.

Despite owing his political career to former President Park, Lee parted ways with Park after her impeachment following a corruption scandal. He left the Saenuri Party in 2017 and joined former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min’s Bareun Party until the party merged with the Liberty Korea Party (formerly the Saenuri Party, today the PPP) ahead of the 2020 general election.

His greatest strength was his popularity among the general public, which he gained from his numerous television appearances, ranging from news shows to reality TV. He gained popularity among men in their 20s and 30s recently by attacking feminism and campaigning on a platform of anti-feminism.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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