Lee Jun-seok, left, the former chairman of the Ruling People Power Party, speaks during a seminar at Kyungsung University in Busan, Saturday. Yonhap

Lee Jun-seok, an outspoken former chairman of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), is creating a stir in political circles ahead of next year's general elections with his idea of creating a breakaway party with outliers of rival parties.

While building up political momentum for the new party, Lee is butting heads with PPP's innovation committee leader Ihn Yo-han and other mainstream members of the ruling party, threatening to create a party unless President Yoon Suk Yeol and the PPP change.

Despite Ihn's attempts to embrace the former chairman, a reconciliation between Lee and the PPP mainstream appears to be elusive, as a growing number of PPP members are disgruntled about Lee's thorny rhetoric.

In a series of recent interviews, Lee has reiterated that he has set a December deadline to decide whether to create his own party, and he will do so unless there is a change in the attitude of the PPP and the president.

"There is a deadline of late December," Lee said in a phone call with Yonhap News Agency, Monday. "As the deadline approaches, it is natural for me to lean toward creating a new party."

Pundits assume that the deadline will likely be Dec. 27, because it marks the 12th anniversary of Lee's political beginnings.

Lee's idea of creating a new party appears to be a tactic garnering votes in the general elections, by gathering fringe members of the rival parties.

While Lee has been a long-standing critic of Yoon, the PPP mainstream is predominantly comprised of the president's loyalists. A similar situation is observed within the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), where individuals close to Chairman Lee Jae-myung and smaller opposing factions engage in intense disputes.

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seong-min attends a commemorative ceremony at Seoul Plaza, Oct. 29, to commemorate the victims of the 2022 Halloween weekend crowd crush that occurred in Itaewon. Joint Press Corps

Given this context, Lee is widely anticipated to collaborate with former PPP lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, a long-time outlier of the conservative ruling party, and even DPK members from smaller factions, to appeal to voters skeptical of both parties. While the chances of this party becoming a dominant political group are slim, it could hold leverage between the rival parties if it can secure approximately 10 seats in the 299-seat National Assembly.

Against this backdrop, DPK Rep. Lee Sang-min, who is an ardent critic of the party's chairman, implied that he may join the former PPP chairman's new party, saying "time is coming for me to make a decision."

"The former PPP chairman is not welcomed in his party, and we have similar ideas on overcoming the polarization of politics," the DPK lawmaker said in a CBS radio interview.

"Rather than exhausting his energy in the PPP, creating a new party, like a start-up, would be better. There could be mistakes and he may face difficulties in doing it alone."

Ruling People Power Party's (PPP) innovation committee head Ihn Yo-han, right, listens to former PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok, unseen, at a seminar at Kyungsung University in Busan, Saturday. Yonhap

The PPP is unhappy about a breakaway party because it will likely bring division of the conservatives.

During a radio interview with broadcaster YTN, the PPP's innovation committee head Ihn Yo-han said "creating a new party will never helpful for him."

"It is not for them (Lee and his supporters) and not for us either," Ihn said. "Many have already failed after creating new parties ... If he wants to fight, he should do so after coming back to our side."

People Power Party deputy spokesperson Shin Joo-ho said in a separate interview with YTN that "the party is making efforts for cohesion" and "all of the party members will join hands to pursue that value."

Despite Ihn's efforts to embrace Lee, a reconciliation seems elusive.

On Saturday, Ihn, a naturalized American Korean, visited a seminar in Busan to see Lee. However, Lee addressed Ihn in English, referring to him by his English name, John Linton, rather than addressing him in Korean using his Korean name.

"I really hoped that at today's seminar, you and I can come to a common ground at some point, but I have to tell you at this point that you have failed to meet the prerequisites for coming here," Lee said.

Lee cited the PPP's defeat in a recent by-election for a district mayor seat in Seoul, and claimed Ihn and the party are not hearing the voices of the people. "If you abide by their language and do not defy them, then I'll be more than happy to talk with you, but as of now, you have failed to meet the prerequisite."

Lee said that he spoke to Ihn in English because "you became one of us, but you don't look like one of us, as of now" urging him to speak "in the same language as we do."

Ihn, who was born and raised in Korea, is a fluent Korean speaker and regards Korean as his first language.

On Monday, he expressed his disappointment, saying, "I was born in Jeolla Province and naturalized as Korean, but Lee treated me like a foreigner by speaking in English."

Though Lee explained in a YouTube clip on Sunday that he used English "in consideration of language proficiency." This triggered controversy over whether Lee's choice of language was racially discriminative.

PPP Supreme Council member Jang Ye-chan said in an interview with Channel A that "Lee's political career could have ended if this happened in the U.S." Former PPP Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk also commented in a CBS interview that "Even if he had spoken in Korean, there's no chance Ihn wouldn't have understood what Lee said."

PPP Rep. Cho Hae-jin said in an interview with broadcaster BBS, "It is very regrettable that the party and Ihn's committee are making efforts to unite the party for victory in the general elections, but Lee keeps pushing them away."