Jang Je-won: "Yoon Seok-yeol Devours the Main Opposition Party... Can People Power Party Exist?"

"Kim Jong-in, the Minus Hand... Will Hand Over the Presidency to the Democratic Party"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Jang Je-won, a member of the People Power Party, criticized on the 12th the poll showing Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol ranking first in support among next presidential candidates, saying, “Prosecutor General Yoon has swallowed the main opposition party,” and questioned, “A political party’s reason for existence is to create a government. Can the People Power Party still exist as a political party?”

On the same day, Jang said on Facebook, “The ‘Yoon Seok-yeol syndrome’ has struck the political landscape. I once stated that ‘the figure Yoon Seok-yeol would act as a strong centrifugal force on the People Power Party and the broader opposition.’ It has become reality. The numbers prove it,” he said.

Jang stated, “According to the party support rates announced this week by the same polling agency, Hankil Research, the Democratic Party stands at 36.7%, and the People Power Party at 20.4%. The combined support for Democratic Party members Lee Nak-yeon and Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung reached 40.6%, surpassing the Democratic Party’s 36.7% support rate. Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Yoon, who is unaffiliated, swept up the ‘anti-Moon Jae-in sentiment’ alone, far exceeding the People Power Party’s 20.4% support rate,” he explained. He added, “Among the top six announced, Hong Joon-pyo, an independent lawmaker, is also outside the party,” and “There was not a single candidate from the main opposition People Power Party, which holds a 20.4% party support rate.”

Jang criticized, “Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, is not showing any sense of crisis but only waving his characteristic ‘minus hand.’ It is time to find a new breakthrough. What Chairman Kim must do now is not to create a ‘party that follows the Kim Jong-in spirit,’ but to create the ‘only platform for deciding the presidential candidate’ through opposition unity,” he emphasized.

Jang said, “‘Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party leader, should bow and come in’ is fine. But is it possible for ‘Prosecutor General Yoon to bow and come in?’ The more Kim Jong-in’s influence strengthens, the more the party will scatter under the centrifugal forces of presidential candidates, ultimately handing the presidency back to the Democratic Party,” he warned.

According to a poll conducted by Hankil Research on behalf of Cookie News from the 7th to the 9th among 1,022 voters nationwide aged 18 and older, support for Prosecutor General Yoon was highest at 24.7%. Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, received 22.2%, and Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung 18.4%. This is the first time Prosecutor General Yoon has ranked first since being included in the survey. The response rate for this survey was 3.8%, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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