Park Geun-hye kid's rep gets scratch

By Kang Seung-woo

Lee Jun-seok

Lee Jun-seok, regarded as a rising star within the Saenuri Party, has become embroiled in a blame game with a former assistant secretary of Cheong Wa Dae.

The 29-year-old Harvard graduate was a member of the ruling party’s interim emergency leadership council during the presidential campaign of 2012.

The dispute comes after Monday’s revelations when photographers captured images of Saenuri Chairman Kim Moo-sung’s notepad showing the initials of who had masterminded the “Memogate” scandal.

The names on the pad were thought to be Rep. Yoo Seong-min and Kim himself, after Eum Jong-hwan, an assistant secretary to the president for public relations planning, blamed them both last month, according to Lee.

However, Eum denied having made such remarks, and offered his resignation on Wednesday to take responsibility for causing trouble.

When Eum’s remarks came to light, Lee claimed that he was intimidated through a series of text messages, but he denied these claims on Thursday, raising more questions on the incident.

“I had no intention to engage in a blame game with Eum” Lee said in a radio interview.

“When I divulged Eum’s remarks to Chairman Kim, I did not specify Eum’s name, I just said that some Cheong Wa Dae officials doubted the party was behind the scandal.”

He added that his intention was to resolve a potential rift between the presidential office and the ruling party.

“I was at a loss as to how the situation was developing,” Lee said.

Despite his response, there has been criticism of Lee from within the party.

“If Lee was worried about the presidential office’s slander on the chairman, he should have reported it discreetly. It does not make sense,” said an official of the ruling party.

Lee told Kim what Eum said on Jan. 6, when the chairman had dinner with Saenuri lawmakers.

In late 2011, Lee, running an Internet-based education firm, was thrust into the limelight when the then presidential candidate Park Geun-hye scouted him for the leadership council after he made headlines for telling Park some harsh truths.

After the presidential and general elections, he mostly stayed away from political circles, appearing on TV programs as a political commentator.

Given that the ruling party is popular among those in their 20’s and 30’s, Lee has drawn attention as the party’s “young blood.”