Jeong Cheong-rae on Yoon Seok-yeol Leading Presidential Approval Ratings: "A Second Ban Ki-moon Effect"

Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning Park Baek-beom, Vice Minister of Education, at the Education Committee Petition Review Subcommittee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, referred to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's first-place ranking in the next presidential election poll as the "Second Ban Ki-moon Effect."

On the 11th, on KBS1's 'Sasa Geongeon,' regarding the poll result titled "Prosecutor General Yoon leads presidential candidate approval ratings," Jeong said, "There is a saying that history is a continuous dialogue between the past and the present. About a year before the 2017 presidential election, in May 2016, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefly took first place. Then he disappeared."

He added, "In this poll, the People Power Party (PPP) did not just lose a few percentage points; their candidates have completely disappeared. Hong Joon-pyo and Ahn Cheol-soo are not even affiliated with the PPP, right?" He continued, "For the PPP, this feels like a disaster. The main opposition party needs to be healthy for us to stay alert and work harder, but this is the first time that the main opposition party's candidates are completely absent from a presidential poll, so it's not good for us either."

Jeong said, "Because there are no PPP candidates, (Prosecutor General Yoon) is just gathering support by default," and added, "However, it is difficult for Yoon to jump into politics, and he cannot just finish his term and do nothing. If he becomes the top presidential candidate, the attention will increase, and the family-related suspicions will require even more microscopic scrutiny, so I believe Yoon himself does not wish for this situation."

Jeong also stated on his Facebook on the same day, "It is the first time that a sitting Prosecutor General is ranked first in presidential candidate approval ratings, and also the first time that the main opposition party's presidential candidate is completely absent from the rankings," adding, "The blocking phenomenon of Yoon Seok-yeol against the PPP presidential candidates is truly maddening from the PPP's perspective. The PPP is in a situation where they can neither laugh nor cry."

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