President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday urged active voter participation, citing the maxim attributed to Plato: "The price of political apathy is to be ruled by the worst." Lee stressed, "If there are politicians or political groups who find these words uncomfortable, they are precisely the entrenched old guard that sovereign citizens must overcome through their votes."
The People Power Party (PPP) fired back, saying, "It struck us how well he wrote his own 'self-criticism.'" With the local election main vote three days away, Lee has continued to encourage voter turnout day after day, prompting the PPP to mount a direct rebuttal and intensifying the last-minute war of nerves over voter sentiment.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Lee wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "Dear respected citizens, please actively participate in voting and clearly show that the people are the masters of this country, where power should be directed, and where the will of the sovereign lies." He added, "I ask you to find loyal and capable people who will use the power entrusted by the people solely according to the people's will and only for the people, and give them the opportunity."
Lee said, "Depending on what mindset and attitude elected public officials hold and how they act, the world can become either hell or heaven," adding, "The power of the vote is stronger than you think." He continued, "Whether those elected become loyal servants who enrich my life, or malignant rulers who destroy the world and inflict pain on the people, lies in the hands of the sovereign," reiterating that the future of the community is determined through voting.
The previous day, Lee also referenced the importance of voter participation on social media, saying, "Giving up on voting is taking the side of those who harm my life and our community." The PPP pushed back, calling the remarks "divisive" and an "intervention in the election."
PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk also took to Facebook on the same day, striking back: "Isn't Lee Jae-myung himself the very person abusing the greatest power for 'private gain'?" He continued, "We must vote without fail and reopen Lee Jae-myung's trial." He pressed on with the offensive, adding, "Isn't it Lee Jae-myung himself who created the 'three highs' of high exchange rates, high prices, and high interest rates?"
