A "youth audition" to select the People Power Party’s regional proportional assembly candidates has continued amid controversy after attracting many applicants who oppose the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and promote election‑fraud conspiracy theories. Broadcaster Lee Hyuk‑jae, who has argued that former President Yoon is not guilty of insurrection charges, served as one of the audition judges, and the recent main round revealed that numerous far‑right figures advanced to the final stage.
On the 27th, the roster of finalists for the People Power Party’s regional proportional candidate youth public audition included a large number of "Yoon Again"‑aligned figures who have been criticized for defending insurrection and promoting election‑fraud conspiracies. The audition was initially presented as an effort to demonstrate the party’s commitment to reform.
The People Power Party held the audition finals the previous afternoon at its central headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, with 64 applicants participating. The party had planned to select 100 candidates in the preliminary round, but only 79 people applied overall, so after eliminating roughly the bottom 15% it proceeded to the finals. Forty‑two contestants advanced to the final round scheduled for the 28th.
Among those who advanced were applicants who, via social media and other channels, opposed the impeachment of former President Yoon, defended insurrection, and promoted election‑fraud conspiracies—such as Park Hyun‑woo, an applicant for Seoul City Council who currently serves as a Yeongdeungpo District councilor, and Kim Young‑rok, an applicant for the Gyeongnam Provincial Council who currently serves as a Changwon City councilor.
Also advancing to the final was Lee Beom‑seok, an Incheon City council candidate and co‑chair of the far‑right youth organization Shinjeon Daehyup (National Student Representatives Council), a group that drew controversy for stoking election‑fraud allegations and anti‑China sentiment and was recruited by the People Power Party for the local elections.
However, some candidates did not make it past the main round: Lee Seong‑jik, a Gyeonggi Provincial Council candidate who served as legal counsel to far‑right YouTuber Jeon Han‑gil, and Lee Seung‑hoon, a Gyeonggi Provincial Council candidate who echoed far‑right conspiracy theories about the Itaewon tragedy, were eliminated in the main round.
Separately, criticism has continued over judge Lee Hyuk‑jae, who has been involved in incidents such as drunken assault and tax delinquency and used YouTube to assert former President Yoon’s innocence.
Before the audition judging the day before, Lee took the microphone and said he came to the event "humbly, bearing both voices of concern and the expectations directed at me," adding that he had "experienced losing the glory built over time in a single mistake." He said the important thing was that he had "never avoided responsibility at any moment," a remark that drew further controversy.
People Power Party lawmaker Jin Jong‑oh wrote on Facebook that it made no sense to appoint as a youth audition judge someone who had been removed from broadcasting for being unsuitable for viewers, calling on the party to dismiss Lee and replace him with a fair‑minded figure. "This truly is enough of a comedy," he wrote.
