Without Mentioning Party Membership... Yoon Seok-yeol Meets Ban Ki-moon

Approval Ratings Also on the Decline

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is visiting the Ban Ki-moon Foundation located on Gyeonghuigung-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, to pay a courtesy call to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the 15th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Juni Park] Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, whose approval ratings have declined since declaring his political participation, continued his scheduled meetings with external figures on the 15th. He maintains the stance of not discussing changes in election strategies, such as joining a specific political party, for now.

On the morning of the same day, Yoon met with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss climate change, future environmental issues, diplomacy, and security. Although their conversation mainly focused on environmental topics, Ban did not hesitate to offer advice to Yoon, who is running for the presidency. Ban said, "There will be many obstacles ahead. If you do your best with a mindset of doing your utmost and leaving the rest to fate, I believe you will achieve a successful conclusion."

Having just passed two weeks since starting his political activities, Yoon is expanding his connections with various figures across different sectors. His goal is to broaden the anti-Moon Jae-in (Ban Moon-jae) tent and strengthen the moderate base through outreach. On the 12th, he met with Choi Jang-jip, a senior scholar in progressive political science and professor emeritus at Korea University, and also shared meals and exchanged views with Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, and former National Assembly member Kim Young-hwan. After completing his public sentiment outreach, which was temporarily halted due to COVID-19, he plans to present policies. He continues to maintain the stance of not discussing joining any specific political party for now.

Despite his seemingly active activities, his approval ratings are declining. Recent polls show that although within the margin of error, Yoon often trails in one-on-one matchups against ruling party candidates such as Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon. A member of Yoon’s campaign team stated, "As more candidates declare their runs, the decline in approval ratings is an inevitable phenomenon," adding, "We will review whether there are areas to improve upon and will work hard moving forward."

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