"'Yoon Approval Rating Rising' Jung Cheong-rae: 'People Power Party Like a Frog in a Pot'"

"Yoon's Entry into the Party Is Not Guaranteed, and If He Joins, Approval Ratings Will Drop"
"I Became a Wanderer on a Steep Path, So I Don't Understand Why Yoon Is Welcomed"

Jeong Cheong-rae, Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed that "a dark shadow of the People Power Party has stretched long" in relation to the rising support rate of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol as a next presidential candidate.

On the 2nd, Jeong wrote on his Facebook, "If you want to cling to Yoon Seok-yeol, members of the People Power Party in the National Assembly must kowtow to him and volunteer as his bodyguards," adding, "It would be humiliating for incumbent lawmakers to do that to an incumbent supervisory agency."

He continued, "Even so, there is no guarantee that Yoon Seok-yeol will join the People Power Party given his temperament, and if he does join, his support rate will obviously drop," pointing out, "You cannot recklessly accept the enemy of the family that imprisoned Park Geun-hye."

He added, "At the same time, the People Power Party cannot just recklessly throw out Yoon Seok-yeol like Hong Joon-pyo, and if they just leave him alone, the acorns that are already invisible will have no chance to be noticed. It's a dilemma either way."

Jeong criticized the People Power Party, saying, "The sun is setting, the rain is falling, and the stomach that has been hungry for days is rumbling, like a traveler walking on a slope in a deep mountain without a single light," and added, "They have become frogs in a pot of boiling water due to the Yoon Seok-yeol disaster, but I really don't understand those of you who cheer for Yoon Seok-yeol."

Yoon Seok-yeol, Prosecutor General / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, a preference survey for the next presidential candidate conducted by the polling agency Realmeter from the 26th of last month to the 1st of this month targeting 2,576 voters nationwide showed that Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, and Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province, both recorded a preference rate of 21.5%, tying for first place. Prosecutor General Yoon ranked third with 17.2%, forming a three-way race, and recorded an overwhelming first place among opposition candidates.

Earlier, on the 22nd of last month, during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Yoon responded to a question about his post-retirement plans by saying, "I will slowly think about how to serve our society and the people after retirement." However, when asked whether politics was included in the ways of service, he avoided a direct answer, saying, "It is difficult to say at this time."

This led some in the political circle to interpret it as "Yoon Seok-yeol might be considering entering politics."

Shin Dong-geun, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, said in a radio interview on the 23rd of last month, "He (Yoon) is thinking about politics. Isn't that a statement aimed at becoming a politician?" but also pointed out, "As we saw with former leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, the public does not like those from power institutions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.