Yoon Seok-yeol Called Kim Jong-in First

Kim Jong-in Reveals Phone Call from a Month Ago
"Said 'Let's meet if time allows,' then contacted again to avoid meeting"
On Kim Dong-yeon: "If he runs as a ruling party candidate, the opposition will struggle"
On Lee Jae-myung: "Pro-Moon faction will eventually support Lee"

Former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, considered a leading opposition presidential candidate, contacted former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in, who revealed this fact. Public attention is focused on which presidential candidate Kim will align with. As one of the most influential figures in current politics, known as the so-called 'kingmaker,' he recently highly evaluated former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Dong-yeon, who is receiving love calls from both ruling and opposition parties, saying, "(If he becomes the ruling party candidate) the election would be difficult from the opposition's perspective." Regarding whether the pro-Moon Jae-in faction within the Democratic Party will recognize Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung as the presidential candidate, he predicted, "If they think it's better than losing power, it will happen that way."

On the 21st, Kim appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "I received a call from former Prosecutor General Yoon on the 10th of last month, three days after the April 7 by-elections," adding, "Someone came to see me and told me that a call from Yoon would come in a few minutes, so I answered it." There had been many predictions that Yoon would begin active political moves after the April 7 by-elections, and it was confirmed that he actually contacted Kim to seek political advice.

Kim also said, "(Yoon) talked about various personnel matters and suggested meeting sometime when we both had time, but perhaps judging that it was not an appropriate time currently, he contacted me again saying it would be better to avoid meeting at this time, so I just accepted it and moved on." Regarding Yoon, who is leading the race for the next presidential candidate, Kim said, "The moment of a star is about knowing how to capture the moment properly," adding, "People like Germany's Adenauer, France's De Gaulle, and Britain's Thatcher seized the moment and devoted all their passion, which allowed them to achieve great accomplishments." This implies that Yoon still has opportunities to take a decisive chance in politics.

Meanwhile, Kim also gave a high evaluation of former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who is recently gaining attention as a third presidential candidate from the ruling party. He said, "I understand that he is thoroughly preparing what and how to do things to normalize the country according to Korea's circumstances," and "He has knowledge about the economy and, considering his growth process, ordinary people see him as having a truly remarkable story." He added, "The Democratic Party is said to have three heavyweight presidential candidates (Lee Jae-myung, Lee Nak-yon, and Chung Sye-kyun), but since they dislike all of them, I thought they might put forward former Deputy Prime Minister Kim as a candidate," and "If that happens, (from the opposition's perspective) the election would be difficult." However, he also raised the possibility that both Yoon and former Deputy Prime Minister Kim might pursue political moves distancing themselves from the existing political circles. He mentioned, "There is also a possibility that these two people, who are not affiliated with any party, could become competitors from outside."

Regarding Governor Lee of Gyeonggi Province, Kim rated his chances of ultimately becoming the Democratic Party's presidential candidate highly. When the host mentioned that the pro-Moon faction's moves are key, Kim said, "The pro-Moon faction will ultimately have to follow public sentiment," and "If they think it's better than losing power, they will have no choice but to go with (Lee Jae-myung)."

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