Lee Cheon-soo “We are a ‘one team’ during the World Cup, but the people are divided during the election… “Spooky”

Ahead of the 22nd National Assembly general election, Lee Cheon-soo, a former member of the Korean national soccer team, who showed his loyalty by serving as the chairman of the support committee for candidate Won Hee-ryong of the People Power Party Incheon Gyeyang and even congratulating the defeated candidate, said, “When cheering for the World Cup, the people are one team, but during the election, there are two sides, red and blue.” “It was scary to see it split into two,” he said.

In an interview published by the Chosun Ilbo on the 15th, Lee Cheon-soo said that he was from Gyeyang-gu, Incheon and ‘I came forward purely with the heart for the development of Gyeyang.’ He added, “The people on the other end didn’t think that way,” adding, “The insults were basic, and they forcibly grabbed my hand and threatened me by saying, ‘I know where your family lives.’” He said that even in embarrassing and scary situations, even if he tried to explain his position, the conversation itself did not work.

Lee Cheon-soo’s remarks came out in the process of mentioning being assaulted during the election campaign and being the target of criticism by strong supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea, the so-called ‘daughters of reform’. When asked, ‘Did you regret going to the election campaign?’ he replied, “I regretted it from the first day of the campaign.” He added, “I had a mental breakdown when I saw how many people were criticizing me, and I thought, ‘Why am I here?’” .

In response to the controversy over a scuffle with Democratic Party supporters due to a counter-question during a support campaign asking, ‘Your father is louder?’, he said, “I’m just saying that I’m holding on and putting up with it,” and emphasized, “The threats and criticism I’ve received from them have exceeded 10,000 times.” Lee Chun-soo said that he had not looked at his social networking service (SNS) for a long time in response to being the target of a ‘dog daughter’, and that he even filmed a video for his YouTube channel ‘Lee Chun-soo’ during the election campaign, but was unable to post it for fear that it would be devastated by all kinds of criticism. did.

In response to a follow-up question about whether celebrities are staying away from politics due to the reality of politics being divided into ‘my side, your side, your side,’ “I wouldn’t have done it,” he said bluntly.

My relationship with Candidate Won began in 2016 when the main players of the Korea-Japan World Cup semifinals visited a women’s soccer team in Jeju Island. When Lee Cheon-soo visited the Jeju Girls’ High School soccer team, which was at a crossroads due to the suspension of support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to offer encouragement, she met Candidate Won. It is said that she was already friends with the aide, and after meeting her in the same place several times, she naturally developed a friendship with him.

As if referring to this relationship, when asked, ‘Did you receive a request to help with the election?’, Lee Cheon-soo said that because Gyeyang-gu is a strong area for the Democratic Party, they discouraged him by saying, ‘Honestly, don’t come to Gyeyang,’ but added that he intended to help if he insisted on coming.

Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, Lee Cheon-soo’s political activities are not limited to a specific camp, as he held an early voting campaign at Incheon International Airport with Song Young-gil, leader of the Pine Tree Party, who served as general manager of Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in’s side at the time. Lee Cheon-soo described CEO Song as ‘the savior of my soccer life,’ saying, “He helped me come to my senses after wandering around and being almost abandoned by the soccer world, and helped me return to the field and retire properly.” During the time that CEO Song was the mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City, Lee Cheon-soo played for Incheon United in the K League.

Lee Cheon-soo, who told the Chosun Ilbo, “I only look at people, it’s very simple,” and “If I like it, that’s it,” answered the question, “Which is more difficult, politics or soccer?” and responded, “Of course it’s politics,” and “Soccer is 11 to 11.” “When we fight, it’s more like a one-on-one fight, but politics isn’t like that.” He compared Candidate Won to a soccer player who came to an away game.

Reporter Kim Dong-hwan [email protected]

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