Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok [Yonhap]
Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok [Yonhap]

Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok said the US midterm election results showed that "unchecked power ultimately destroys its own party and faces judgment at the ballot box."

In a Facebook post Thursday, Lee drew a parallel between two groups: figures in South Korea who had fawned over President Yoon Suk Yeol early in his term only to be swept away by the martial law crisis, and Republican politicians who stood by as President Donald Trump ran unchecked and suffered a historic defeat as a result.

Appearing to target the ruling camp, Lee urged, "Stand up against the unjust withdrawal of indictments by the unchecked Lee Jae Myung administration." Lee added, "If you saw the news of Democrats sweeping Senate seats across the American South, do you think southern Gyeonggi Province and non-Gangnam Seoul would be any different?"

Meanwhile, Donald Trump accepted the midterm results Tuesday (local time), in which his Republican Party lost its majorities in both chambers of Congress, and signaled willingness to work with the Democratic Party.

Trump told Fox News in a phone interview that he would accept the election outcome. Asked whether he would cooperate with Democrats going forward, he said, "I will," adding, "The Democrats will want to work with me too." He also congratulated Democrats on running a hard-fought campaign.

In a separate interview with The New York Times, Trump said he was "totally willing to accept the results" and that "we will work with the Democrats, and we look forward to working with them. We'll probably make some deals."


yul@heraldcorp.com