Over 600,000 Signatures Demand the Expulsion of Lawmaker Lee Jun-seok

A petition calling for the expulsion of lawmaker Lee Jun-seok from the Reform Party has garnered over 600,000 signatures, marking the second-highest record in the history of the National Assembly's electronic petition system. According to the National Assembly's electronic petition website, the petition, titled 'Petition for the Expulsion of Lawmaker Lee Jun-seok,' was registered on June 4 and concluded on July 5 with a total of 604,630 supporters. This follows only the petition from June of last year, which requested the immediate initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk-yeol, which received 1,434,784 signatures.

The petition's initiator stated, 'During the third presidential candidate debate on May 27, 2025, Lee Jun-seok committed verbal sexual violence by describing violence against women's bodies in an attempt to attack his opponent, all while being watched by all sovereign citizens.' They emphasized that such remarks from a presidential candidate and a member of the 22nd National Assembly are unprecedented in using women's bodies as tools for political attacks.

In the televised debate, Lee questioned his opponent, Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Labor Party, by asking, 'If I say I want to stick chopsticks into a part of a woman's body, is that misogyny?' This comment referenced a controversial post allegedly made by the son of then-Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on an online gambling site.

Following the backlash, Lee issued an apology via email to party members on May 30, stating, 'I deeply apologize to everyone who was hurt by the level of my expression. I will not make any excuses and will strive to ensure that I do not repeat the same mistake, adopting a more restrained approach moving forward.'

Petitions that receive over 50,000 signatures are formally submitted and forwarded to the relevant committees in the National Assembly. If the committee reviews the petition and presents it to the National Assembly, expulsion of a lawmaker requires a two-thirds majority vote from the sitting members, as stipulated by the constitution.