Yoon Expands Outreach... Recruiting Yoo Jong-pil from Democratic Party and Honam Region

DJ Seogeo 12th Anniversary Memorial Visit to the Gravesite

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential primary candidate, visited the National Seoul Memorial Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the 18th, the 12th anniversary of former President Kim Dae-jung's passing. After paying respects at the grave of former President Kim, he responded to reporters' questions. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Yoon Seok-yeol, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party and former Prosecutor General, is actively expanding his outreach by recruiting a large number of figures from the ruling party and Honam region to his campaign and commemorating former President Kim Dae-jung. This is interpreted as a strategy to encompass not only conservative voters but also progressive and moderate groups following his entry into the People Power Party.

On the 18th, Yoon’s People’s Camp held a press conference at the National Assembly to announce additional appointments. Many of the newly added personnel are from the ruling party. The campaign recruited Yoo Jong-pil, former spokesperson of the Democratic Party and former mayor of Gwanak District, as a standing advisor. He is from the Honam region and holds the record as the longest-serving spokesperson in the Democratic Party for 4 years and 10 months. It is reported that on the 16th, Yoon met with former Mayor Yoo over lunch and personally proposed his joining the campaign.

At the press conference, Standing Advisor Yoo said, "I was with the Democratic Party for 26 years but resigned yesterday," adding, "Although Yoon still has many shortcomings, I judged him to be a steadfast and righteous person who can lead the normalization of the Republic of Korea in the future, which is why I decided to join."

Professor Song Ha-jung, who served as chairman of the Presidential Advisory Policy Planning Committee during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, joined as a policy advisor, and Kim Sung-ho, former member of the Millennium Democratic Party, joined as a political special advisor. For national unity special advisors, Min Young-sam, former Supreme Council member of the Democratic Peace Party, and Ko Young-shin, former KBS director, were appointed.

Former People’s Party lawmaker Song Ki-seok joined as the Gwangju election campaign committee chairman. He previously served as secretary to the party leader and vice-chairman of the policy committee of the People’s Party and is expected to act as a bridge between Gwangju and the Honam region.

Among current lawmakers, Lee Yang-su, Kim Hee-gon, and Jeong Hee-yong of the People Power Party were additionally recruited. Lee was appointed as Gangwon election campaign committee chairman, Kim as Busan election campaign committee chairman, taking charge of gathering local residents’ opinions and establishing regional pledges. Jeong was appointed as chairman of the 4th Industrial Revolution Countermeasures Committee. With this, the total number of current lawmakers joining the People’s Camp has increased to 18.

Meanwhile, on the morning of the same day, Yoon visited the grave of former President Kim Dae-jung in Dongjak District, Seoul, to commemorate the 12th anniversary of his passing. After the visit, he met with Kim Sung-jae, standing director of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, and emphasized unity, saying, "We are currently facing not only a health crisis due to COVID-19 but also a severe economic crisis. I believe all national leaders of our country must embrace the spirit of national unity and harmony of former President Kim to overcome this crisis."

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