"He packages the achievements of others as his own, shifts the responsibility for his own wrongdoings onto his subordinates, and merely plays at being president by using supplementary budgets to distribute 'free money' to appease public resentment whenever it starts to grow."

U.S. political columnist Gene Cummings has launched a scathing critique of Lee Jae-myung, comparing him to a gang leader.

On the 27th, in a post on his Facebook page, Cummings directly targeted Lee, stating, "Gangster-like businessmen, much like the Dongdaemun division of the 1950s, use money to command people, travel abroad under the guise of market research or business inspections to squander money and enjoy vacations, and when problems arise at the company, they shift all responsibility onto their subordinates and even go so far as to interrogate them." He added, "Looking at the behavior Lee Jae-myung is currently showing, I cannot shake the thought that he is running the country in the same way gang bosses operate their business enterprises."

A Series of Deaths Around Lee Jae-myung

First, Cummings pointed out that "the people around Lee Jae-myung are continuously meeting mysterious deaths."

"Yoo Han-gi, who was called the second-in-command of the Seongnam Development Corporation as the head of the development division, was found dead in December 2021, and Kim Moon-ki, who was in charge of the actual development work for the Daejang-dong project as the head of the First Development Department, was also found dead in his office in December 2021."

He also noted the fact that the two men were found dead just 11 days apart.

"Furthermore, Lee Byung-chul, a civic group representative who raised suspicions about Lee Jae-myung’s attorney fees being paid by others, was found dead in a Seoul motel in January 2022, and a person surnamed Kim, who was being questioned as a witness regarding Kim Hye-kyung’s corporate card scandal, was also found dead at their home in July 2022. Additionally, Jeon Hyung-soo, who served as chief of staff during Lee Jae-myung's tenure as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi-do, was found dead at his home in March 2023."

Cummings stated that these mysterious deaths surrounding Lee and those occurring during his period in power continue even today, asking whether a situation where so many people around a single politician are found dead one after another could possibly be considered normal.

In addition, he stated his position: "Even if these deaths are ultimately proven to be completely unrelated to Lee Jae-myung, I cannot accept the reality of entrusting the operation of a nation to such a figure. Regardless of left or right, I am judging and worrying that the individual named Lee Jae-myung himself could be a threat to the nation; I am not writing this to take sides with either the Democratic Party or the People Power Party."

He further remarked, "I do not see Lee Jae-myung’s supporters as people with normal judgment. That thought was solidified particularly after watching a video of a woman saying, 'I am so fond of Lee Jae-myung that it brings me to tears.'"

The Pinnacle of Irresponsibility

Cummings stated that he is reminded once again of how dangerous it is to entrust a country to such a figure, noting: "Even though the nation is piled high with critical issues that need to be resolved, he encouraged citizens to invest in stocks even if they had to take on debt. Now that stock prices have plummeted and there are countless citizens who have lost their fortunes due to the leveraged investments he encouraged, he is shifting the blame onto others."

He further raised his voice, arguing that Lee repeatedly escapes the country whenever there is a domestic crisis: "Even in a situation where concerns about crude oil supply were growing due to the Hormuz crisis and the public was worried about high oil prices, Lee responded by threatening gas stations, and he headed off on an unimportant visit to Singapore when there were urgent domestic issues at hand."

He took issue with the fact that "despite the situation requiring measures to prevent instability in domestic crude oil supply, prices, and financial markets, the person who is president went abroad (Singapore) and returned after flaunting his intention to spend massive amounts of national funds by making extravagant investment promises (a plan to create a $300 million global mother fund, K-VCC, by 2030 and invest in AI and deep-tech startups in Korea and Singapore) that were neither urgent nor had clear outcomes."

Moreover, he directly criticized Kim Hye-kyung, noting that she attended the 'Everyone's K-Pop' festival held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila, Philippines, and "proposed on the spot to provide airfare to all four participating teams in addition to the winning team, showing off as if spending taxpayer money were spending her own money." He added, "While telling the public to tighten their belts due to crude oil supply issues, the Lee Jae-myung couple went around squandering the national budget abroad."

Cummings emphasized that "what is more absurd is that when the domestic stock market plummeted while he was abroad, instead of examining the cause as president and preparing fundamental measures, he bypassed the issue by issuing instructions to 'release more money,' as if he were spending his own money."

He bitingly criticized him, saying, "Lee Jae-myung’s method is no different from the typical operating style of a gang leader-type businessman, where when a problem occurs, the leader shifts the responsibility to his underlings while he hides in the background."

Lee Jae-myung Spent One Out of Every Six Days Abroad

Cummings also diagnosed that among Korea's past presidents, none had traveled abroad as frequently as Lee Jae-myung within about a year of taking office.

He pointed out, "Lee Jae-myung has already embarked on his 12th overseas tour about 13 and a half months after taking office, surpassing Lee Myung-bak's record for the first year of his term. Since his inauguration on June 4, 2025, he has visited the G7 summit in Canada, visited Japan and the U.S. for a White House summit, the UN General Assembly in New York, the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, toured the UAE, Egypt, South Africa, and Turkey, visited China, visited Japan, paid state visits to Singapore and the Philippines, paid state visits to India and Vietnam, toured Belgium, the EU, Italy, the Vatican, and France, followed by the NATO summit in Turkey and a state visit to Mongolia, and is currently touring San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Germany."

According to his calculation, once Lee returns on August 3, his total time away from the country will reach 68 days. He pointed out that this equates to an average of 4.9 days per month over his 14 months in office—effectively spending nearly five days every month traveling abroad—which accounts for approximately 16% of his entire tenure, or spending one day abroad out of every six.

"Lee Jae-myung is the first president in Korean history to have visited overseas so frequently within a year or so of taking office."

What Did He Bring Back from Twelve Tours?

Cummings also meticulously questioned what results, if any, Lee had brought back from his travels.

According to him, "Although Lee Jae-myung has gone on twelve overseas tours in his one year since taking office, there are almost no achievements that the public can verify through numbers and contracts." He pointed out, "Every tour, they announced AI, core minerals, supply chains, defense cooperation, and various MOUs as achievements, but these are mostly nothing more than promises to cooperate in the future; it is difficult to find results confirmed by actual investments or orders."

He criticized the recent San Francisco visit as being the same, saying, "Korean companies including Samsung, SK, and Hyundai were already pursuing cooperative projects with U.S. AI firms. Lee Jae-myung simply attended the event, took pictures and had drinks with big-tech CEOs, and then attached the name 'San Francisco AI Declaration,' presenting work that companies were already doing as his own diplomatic achievement."

He argued that what actually came out on the ground were mostly 'requests to invest in Korea' and responses that they 'would cooperate in the future,' with no concrete investment amounts or finalized contracts.

Cummings criticized him, saying, "In the end, he is packaging events organized by business people as his own achievements, and using that as a justification to travel around San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Germany for a staggering 11 days."

He added, "Moreover, Lee Jae-myung himself is not even properly fulfilling the investment promises already agreed upon with the U.S." He stated that in such a situation, he should be meeting with high-level U.S. government officials in Washington to resolve remaining issues and bring back concrete results, but instead, he is inserting himself into corporate AI events on his way to South America without any meetings scheduled with policy decision-makers, and promoting that as a diplomatic achievement.

Cummings took issue with the fact that while domestic economic and political conflicts, as well as security issues, are erupting everywhere, Lee shifts the responsibility for those matters to others while he tours the world.

Comparing him to a former president who also traveled frequently, he noted, "Lee Myung-bak had his controversies, but at least he showed the public what he brought back through his tours, such as nuclear power plant orders or construction contracts. Lee Jae-myung travels abroad more often than anyone else, yet there is not a single tangible achievement that the public can verify through numbers and contracts."

Furthermore, he criticized Lee, saying, "He packages the achievements of others as his own, shifts the responsibility for his own wrongdoings onto his subordinates, and merely plays at being president by using supplementary budgets to distribute 'free money' to appease public resentment whenever it starts to grow."

He especially emphasized that "while he wields the sword of legal punishment against those who criticize him, he himself is traveling abroad with his wife, simply enjoying a leisurely vacation."

Finally, Cummings sharpened his tone, stating, "The very fact that such a person is sitting in the presidential seat of the Republic of Korea is a national disgrace."

◆ Gene Cummings 

U.S. political columnist. After working at Channel 13 in Baltimore, Maryland, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the 'Sunday Times' (1994–1996) and Business Director of 'The Korean Weekly' (1996–2000), after which he founded 'The Asia Post.' He currently serves as a co-editor of The Korea Signal, a media outlet specializing in U.S.-Korea policy and security analysis.