Ex-ruling party chair takes swipe at Yoon amid legal action over leadership switch

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- The former chair of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), who has filed a court injunction in protest of a leadership switch that removed him from office, on Thursday took another swipe at President Yoon Suk-yeol, a day after a court held a hearing on the injunction.

"The people were deceived and I was deceived," Lee Jun-seok said in an interview with KBS radio, saying he had hoped to mend ties with the president after the PPP won the presidential election in March and nationwide local elections in June under his chairmanship.

Emphasizing that he played a bigger role in the elections compared with lawmakers deemed to be Yoon's core associates, Lee again cried foul against the leadership switch he claims was led by Yoon and his confidants.

The remark is the latest phase in Lee's attempt to regain his status. The former chairman, who has often been at odds with pro-Yoon lawmakers, was officially removed from office after the PPP endorsed members of its emergency leadership committee, completing the leadership transition.

Protesting the transition, Lee has filed for an injunction with the Seoul Southern District Court against the PPP's leadership transition.

mlee@yna.co.kr
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