Choo Mi-ae Announces Presidential Bid... Intensified Competition for Top 3 in Ruling Party

Polling Shows Ruling Party in Top 3
Interest in Whether Big 3 Will Reshape

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] With former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae officially declaring her candidacy for the presidential election, the ruling party's total number of presidential hopefuls is settling at nine. While candidates Lee Jae-myung and Lee Nak-yeon maintain their positions as the top two, competition for the third place is expected to intensify.

On the 23rd, former Minister Chu held a declaration ceremony in Heyri, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, officially announcing her presidential bid with the slogan "A world where people are valued, a world that values people."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among her many firsts?such as the "first female judge-turned-lawmaker," "first woman to be elected five times as a lawmaker," and "first female ruling party leader"?the public is particularly impacted by her being the "first Minister of Justice to order the suspension and disciplinary action against a Prosecutor General." During her tenure as Minister of Justice, former Minister Chu clashed with former Prosecutor General Yoon over prosecution investigations and personnel matters, launching fierce attacks until her resignation in January this year. On the 17th, on YTN Radio, she warned, "No one knows Yoon Seok-youl as well as I do. I am the hawk that catches the pheasant."

There is also interest in how former Minister Chu's presidential bid will affect approval ratings. According to a survey conducted by Asia Economy through WinG Korea Consulting on the 12th and 13th (targeting 1,017 voters aged 18 and over, with a response rate of 10.9% and a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), former Minister Chu ranked third within the ruling party with 6.7% support, following Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon. Subsequent polls have also placed her in third place. If she emerges as a strong rival to former Prosecutor General Yoon, it will be interesting to see whether the ruling party’s "Big 3" structure, currently viewed as "Lee Jae-myung, Lee Nak-yeon, and Chung Sye-kyun," will be reshaped.

Candidates competing with former Minister Chu for the third place include former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Representative Park Yong-jin, Representative Lee Kwang-jae, Governor Choi Moon-soon of Gangwon Province, Governor Yang Seung-jo of Chungcheongnam Province, and Representative Kim Doo-kwan. The Democratic Party’s preliminary presidential primary (cutoff) will narrow the field down to six candidates first.

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