Lee's anti-corruption campaigns in that office gained him the nickname "Bamboo," a Korean term for an upright person of principle.

His departure was attributed to a frustration with the exclusion of the office of the prime minister from policymaking, in particular concerning North Korea.

Although corruption scandals marred the incumbent government, Lee's campaign suffered from the wave of Anti-American sentiment in Korea generated by the Yangju highway incident.

[5][8] On November 7, 2007, Lee officially announced his third campaign for the South Korean presidency as an unaligned candidate after quitting the GNP.

[14] His positions include anti-communism, support for free market capitalism, and a hard-line stance against North Korea.