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Lee Jun-seok Confronts Human Rights Petitions After Explicit Debate Comment

He asserts that he merely referenced a vulgar online post by his rival’s son to probe family ethics

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New Reform Party presidential candidate Lee Jun-seok explains his controversial debate remark during a press conference held at the National Assembly in Seoul on May 29, 2025. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s presidential candidates (from left) Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Kwon Young-kook of the Democratic Labour Party, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party and Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party. Photo: Kyodo, Pool via AP
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Overview

  • During the May 27 debate, Lee asked whether a comment about sticking chopsticks into a woman’s genitals constituted misogyny, citing a post allegedly by Lee Jae-myung’s son
  • MBC muted roughly 70 seconds of Lee’s audio when it uploaded the full debate video to its YouTube channel because of the explicit language
  • The National Human Rights Commission has received 35 petitions accusing Lee of premeditated hate speech and seeking review of potential rights violations
  • Lee apologized for any discomfort his wording caused but maintained his question was a necessary step to scrutinize the Democratic Party candidate’s family
  • He has warned that he will take civil and criminal legal action against those who spread what he calls false information about his remarks