Lee attends elementary school fall sports day, follows students back on Instagram

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung attended an elementary school’s fall sports day in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, on the 22nd, playing ball games with students and cheering them on.
That morning, President Lee visited the “2026 Autumn Festival Happy Gathering” held at Wangung Elementary School in Iksan. Around 70 students and children from the school’s attached kindergarten, as well as parents, school staff and local residents, took part in the event.
In his welcoming remarks, President Lee said, “When I said I wanted to go to an elementary school sports day sometime, they told me there weren’t any. After looking and looking, I ended up here.” He then said he hoped parents and school staff would enjoy a happy autumn day with the students and their children, and urged the students to be careful not to get hurt.
After taking off his suit jacket and changing into a white windbreaker, President Lee took part in a game called “Moving a Gym Ball on a Long Sheet.” When the ball bounced up and hit him on the head, he laughed along with the students. When it rolled off the sheet, he said, “Oh dear, I failed.”
He joined the first game as part of the “Wang-i Team,” then switched to the “Gung-i Team” for a game in which participants filled a ball pit with balls. Han Byung-do, the Democratic Party of Korea’s floor leader, who attended with him, joined the opposing team in each game.
When students watching the games asked, “Please follow us back on Instagram,” President Lee took out his phone and handed it to them. As more students made the request, he encouraged them to cheer, saying, “If you cheer hard, I’ll do it.” He also agreed to students’ requests to take selfies.
During the relay race, he put his arms around the students’ shoulders beside the track and cheered, “Run!” As the final runners came in, he waited with a teacher while holding the finish-line tape, then applauded.
After the sports day, President Lee did some closing exercises with the students and took a commemorative photo with the entire student body, parents, school staff and local residents.
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