Six days before the start of advance voting for the April 10 general elections, Korean Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-seop, who is under investigation by the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) on suspicion of exerting external pressure in the death of Marine Corps Corporal Chae, resigned on Friday morning. He stepped down only 25 days after being appointed ambassador and eight days after returning from Australia. President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted Ambassador Lee's resignation in the afternoon. President Yoon had been adamant about Ambassador Lee's appointment process, stating, "There are no problems with the law or procedures." Still, as the situation became unfavorable for the ruling party and the sense of crisis over the crushing defeat in the general elections boiled over, he took a step back ahead of the first weekend of the official election campaign. However, voices within the ruling party expressed "a sense of missed opportunity."
"Former Ambassador Lee resigned voluntarily. There may be various pros and cons, but look at us. If something feels uncomfortable or strange, we address it,” Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party's Emergency Response Committee, said at a campaign rally in support of Ansan City, Gyeonggi Province. “We don’t pay attention to what other people think. We just fix it. We only care about what citizens think.” It is known that Chairman Han proposed Ambassador Lee's resignation to the President's Office. This is because the sense of crisis within the party that the ‘two major risks originating from Yongsan' are acting as negative news for the general elections. “Regardless of whether the allegation is true, President Yoon has largely accepted the demand that Ambassador Lee step down from public office and respond to the investigation, which is in line with the public’s expectations,” An official from the ruling party said.
Na-Ri Shin journari@donga.com
