It's all Greek to Lee, Jang with Plato-inspired barbs flying as voting winds down
2026.06.03 17:13
President Lee Jae Myung invoked Plato as he continued to urge the public to head to the polls on Wednesday, inciting a scathing and equally philosophical response from the opposition as voting in the local elections prepared to wind down at 6 p.m.
"Have you voted so as not to be ruled by the lowest quality of men, as Plato said?" the president posted on X Wednesday morning, citing a quote attributed to the Greek philosopher.
People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok fired back on Facebook. "'The lowest quality' — that one line has really struck a nerve," he wrote. "They say a Buddha only sees a Buddha. It seems those who are the lowest quality can only see the lowest quality."
"At this point, Plato would leap out of his grave and grab Lee Jae Myung by the collar. If you like Plato, I hope you'll also remember this line: 'And the protector of the people is like him; having a mob entirely at his disposal, he is not restrained from shedding the blood of kinsmen.'" He added, "Plato was actually skeptical of democracy by vote. When you read a book, don't just read one line — read the whole thing."
Lee responded. "Let us elect capable and loyal public servants. Let us all vote. The consequence of giving up on politics is being ruled by the lowest quality," he wrote on X. "Just as the advice to live honestly and not associate with bad people cannot be considered divisive or defamatory, the same applies here. Unless someone considers themselves a bad person, there is no reason to be angered by these words about democracy."
He went further, saying that anyone who believed emphasizing the basic principles of democracy and voter participation constituted electioneering or a violation of political neutrality obligations "needs to go to their mother or their kindergarten or elementary school teacher and have a basic conversation about whether their moral and democratic standards are sound."
Lee also stressed that "in a democratic republic, the standard of political judgment must be common sense and the people, and politics must be a competition to perform well, not a game of insulting others and seeking to profit from their accidental failures."
He then invoked his predecessors, noting that "no one objected" when former conservative President Lee Myung-bak said he hoped "many citizens would vote," or when former conservative President Park Geun-hye urged people to "make sure to participate in the vote."
"That is because they were right," he said.
Lee closed with a renewed appeal to voters: "Do not give up your vote for the sake of your own future and that of your family. Find a capable and loyal public servant and make sure to vote."
Jang also appeared on the YouTube channel Pen N Mike TV Wednesday morning, where he said Lee had "effectively been acting as the campaign chairman for the Democratic Party by posting on social media," adding that Lee had been "continuously posting content so low in quality it is difficult even to respond to." He further claimed Lee was "repeatedly violating his obligation of political neutrality and is engaging in illegal electioneering," and called for a thorough investigation and punishment after the election.
He then attacked Lee's actions during early voting on Friday, when Lee came out of the polling booth and held up his ballot sheet in front of the cameras before putting it inside the ballot box.
Jang said the PPP had filed a complaint against Lee for alleged violations of election law, adding, "As a legal professional, he would have known full well that it was a problem."
"On election day, the head of state — who is responsible for national unity and fair election management — designated a specific group as 'the lowest quality of men' and effectively engaged in electioneering," Park Sung-hoon, the PPP chief spokesperson, also said in a statement. "Not content with sparking controversy by waving a marked ballot in front of the entire nation, he sent out a blatant political message through social media on the morning of election day itself. The president's conduct in abandoning his duty of electoral neutrality makes it nearly impossible to find even a minimum of respect for democracy."
"If you have time to cling to social media and obsess over division, use it instead to face the cold reality of people's livelihoods and fulfill the duties that a president is actually meant to perform," another PPP spokesperson, Cho Yong-sool, said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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