Photo: Lee Jun-seok on CBS radio show. Credit: News Show by Kim Hyeon-jeong.
The meteoric rise of incel leader Lee Jun-seok 이준석 was enabled in significant part by friendly media. Lee, then just 38, captured the People Power Party 국민의힘 leadership, despite having no electoral experience, by stoking and pandering to the toxic misogyny of South Korean young men. Attractive - to media bookers, at least - as a young face ostensibly challenging both the liberals and old guard conservatives, Lee has been one of the most frequent guests on the talk show circuit.
But more than just looks and ideological alignment may underlie Lee’s rise. Heo Eun-a 허은아, a former leader of Lee’s New Reform Party 개혁신당 who was ousted after a bitter feud with Lee, claimed on February 16 that Lee had the NRP pay KRW 55m (USD 38.6k) to a political consultant, Park Seong-min 박성민, to act as a proxy on political talk shows. Park has long denied any such quid pro quo; on February 22, he resigned from two radio programs on which he had been a regular panelist.