Lee Jun Seok, Presidential Candidate, Reform Party
The Honorable Lee Jun Seok is the presidential candidate representing the Reform Party for the 21st presidential election, scheduled for June 3. At age 40, he is the youngest candidate running for president, having met the minimum age requirement to compete in the presidential race.
In 2021, he became the leader of the People Power Party (PPP) at age 36, marking a historic milestone for the main conservative party, whose leadership had traditionally been held by much older politicians. In 2023, Lee parted ways with the PPP and established the Reform Party in January 2024. In April of that year, he was elected as a representative for a district in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, making him the only third-party candidate to secure a seat in a district where both the PPP and the Democratic Party of Korea had candidates. Lee has garnered backing from young men during a period of increasing gender tensions within this demographic.
Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Economics from Harvard University.
