At the young age of only 36
By Publisher Lee Kyung-sik
Time has now come for the opposition political camp to enjoy the blessings of the President and the ruling political party in Korea.
So say many conservative-oriented major Korean-language news media in Seoul, including popular Korean-language daily Chosun Ilbo (May 29, 2921).
They were referring to Junseok ‘Andy’ Lee who is only 36 years old but who is now causing a ‘whirl wind’ in the Korean political arena running way ahead of all the star contenders in the contest for the chairmanship of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).
In an opinion survey conducted on May 28, Lee is known to have won the first place with a 41% victory way ahead of runnier-up PPP National Assemblyman Na Kyung-won who won 29%. She is one of the top-rate leaders in the main opposition party.
The third place went to Rep. Joo Ho-young (15%), Hong Moon-pyo (5%) and Rep. Cho Kyung-tae (4%).
Even in the polls conducted among the members of the PPP, where 50% is reflected, the anticipated difference in favor of the PPP leader Mme Na was only 1%, Lee winning 31%, only 1% less than 32% won by Mme Na.
At this time, it might not be amiss to learn a bit more about Lee.
Here are excerpts from a Wikipedia account of Lee:
Brief personal data of Junseok Lee:
Junseok Lee is an entrepreneur and a founder of Edushare, an educational service organization. He was one of the 11-member Grand National Party’s (later Saenuri Party then Liberty Korea Party) Leadership Council, being the youngest member ever to sit on the Council that was given the power to overhaul the Party.
Education:
Lee studied in an American school in Indonesia for one year,[2] and later attended and graduated from Seoul Science High School. Once admitted to KAIST, Lee transferred to Harvard University and received a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science.
Work Experience:
Lee interned as South Korean lawmaker Yoo Seong-min's assistant.
In lieu of military service, he did alternative service at Innotive, an IT firm owned by Nexon, as a junior software engineer. During his service he founded Edushare, a service organization similar to Teach for America to provide academic services to students who are a part of low-income families. Lee first began the organization by an online plea in Seoul Science High Alumni website to recruit volunteers.
In 2010, he founded ClasseStudio, an online education startup along with the people he met at Innotive.
Grand National Party Leadership Council:
Handpicked by MP Park Geun-hye, the party's leading Presidential candidate, Lee is the youngest-ever to hold a leadership position in the history of the conservative ruling party.
Being a part of the Leadership Council, Lee's role was to make key decisions on behalf of the party, including the selection of candidates to run in the parliamentary elections in April. Pundits view the appointment to appeal to the younger demographic and counter the surging popularity of Ahn Cheol-soo.
Lee's background in computer science and a track record of public service resemble those of Ahn and some see that as the reason for the appointment. Lee remained as a member of Saenuri Party after Park Geun-hye became the President of South Korea.
21st general election:
Even though he won the main vote for the third time in the 21st general election to win the Nowon-gu disease, he was persuaded by those who lost the pre-voting, which recorded the highest voter turnout ever, and claimed that he would not be swayed by YouTube's conservatives, but rather reform the conservatives.
As the controversy over the manipulation continued despite the discussion on the YouTube channel Pen & Mike, which was held on the condition of 1 million won in sponsorship to the Cheonan Foundation, on April 28, he said, "If there is no manipulation after recounting, I will have all the YouTube channels transferred to me and if there is any manipulation, I will resign from politics."