LEE JUN-SEOK'S PETITION TO COURT

[Anchor Lead]

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok's petition to the court has been revealed. He likened President Yoon Suk-yeol to a new military regime. Lee claimed that one of the president's associates offered to wrap up a police probe into his alleged scandal if he stepped down from the party leader seat.

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This is a handwritten petition submitted to the court by former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, who had filed an injunction on the PPP emergency committee's authority. Lee claimed that the mastermind of the recent developments is an absolute being. He added that unless the court rectifies this situation, the figure is likely to more actively exercise the right to declare emergency, just like the military regime that had proclaimed emergency martial law. He had likened the recent situation to the military dictatorship in the 1980s. He also revealed that he received an offer that would scrap a probe into his alleged scandal in exchange for his resignation. Lee said that after the local elections, he was contacted by a close associate of the absolute being, who offered to wrap up the disciplinary procedure if he resigned by December and even mediate for him to go abroad as a presidential envoy. Lee's claim sparked controversy because it meant that the president's associate had the power to interfere with police investigation. Lee also criticized PPP emergency committee chair Joo Ho-young and fellow representative Kim Gi-hyeon for challenging the authority of the court. Lee's former colleagues had said the injunction request would be denied. Kim hit back by saying "too much imagination could turn into delusion." Joo was also angered.

[Soundbite] Joo Ho-young(Chair, PPP Emergency Committee) : "Lee seems to have become a dictator. It was my answer to the media’s question about what I thought about the injunction. How could that be a challenge to the court’s authority?"

In the wake of the controversy, Lee claimed that the PPP had disclosed his handwritten petition. He wrote "Given that they are the ones who leaked the letter marked 'for public viewing' and got infuriated, they must be worried about the injunction outcome." The presidential office has not issued an official statement. It only said the reports about President Yoon mentioning that a party convention should be held this year are not true.