President Lee Jae-myung on the 3rd said, "The words 'Let's elect a competent and loyal worker. Be sure to vote. The consequence of giving up on politics is to be ruled by the most base human beings' cannot be campaign activity favoring a specific candidate or camp."
On this day, the president, through his X (formerly Twitter), said, "It is the same as how the advice 'You should live decently' and 'You shouldn't hang out with bad kids' cannot be factionalism or a smear against someone," and stated accordingly.
This appears to be a clarification regarding the part where, in the morning, the president said, "As Plato said, did you vote so as not to be ruled by the worst base people," urging people to vote. The conservative camp criticized this as "illegal electioneering that violates the duty of election neutrality."
The president said, "Unless a person thinks of oneself as a bad person, there is no reason to be angry at this Confucian saying about democracy. Even a thief, though inwardly angered by the statement that stealing is wrong, does not show anger outwardly."
He went on, "If someone thinks that words emphasizing the basic principles of democracy and participation in elections are campaign activity or a violation of the duty of political neutrality, that person should visit their mother or an elementary school teacher and have a very basic discussion about whether their own moral and democratic standards of judgment are sound."
He added, "In a democratic republic, the standards for political judgment should be common sense and the people, and politics should be a competition to do well, not slandering someone and seeking windfall gains from accidental failures."
The president said, "In this regard, no one disputes former President Lee Myung-bak's words wishing that 'many people would vote' or former President Park Geun-hye's words to 'please be sure to participate in voting.' That is because they are right."
Lastly, he reiterated, "For our and our families' future, do not give up on voting; let's be sure to vote by finding competent and loyal workers."