Yoon's Strategy for the 25th Vision Presentation Focuses on Women's and Welfare Policies... Committed to 'Centrist Expansion'

First Policy Blueprint to Be Unveiled
"Focusing on Welfare Areas Overlooked by Conservatives Until Now"

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 late president's grave, he responded to reporters' questions. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Despite internal conflicts within the People Power Party, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who has remained silent and low-profile, will present his policy vision including his pledges for the first time on the 25th, officially entering the stage of policy scrutiny. Considering his ‘right-wing’ image that has grown over the two months since his political declaration, he is expected to emphasize a ‘progressive’ perspective focusing on socially vulnerable groups such as women and youth, as well as welfare. Moving forward, he appears to be concentrating on strengthening the substance of his campaign by significantly expanding the size of his camp to prepare concrete policies.

According to Yoon’s camp on the 20th, the affiliated policy advisory group is focusing on devising various strategies ahead of the vision presentation on the 25th. A member of the policy advisory group said in a phone interview, "We are discussing various proposals such as A, B, and C," adding, "Although it is called a ‘vision presentation,’ specific policy pledges can be mentioned." However, since there are no guidelines from the party level given to candidates, the extent and method of policy disclosure remain flexible.

The official explained, "This time, the emphasis will be on ‘warm policies and strategies’ such as gender equality, labor, and welfare," adding, "There is a sense of unfairness as Yoon’s right-wing image has been emphasized so far. We want to present a balanced view on areas like welfare, which conservatives have overlooked until now." This seems to be a plan to offset controversies such as the ‘120-hour workweek’ and ‘feminism’ remarks and to appeal to centrists and progressives as well.

Meanwhile, after being embroiled in a series of controversies, former Prosecutor General Yoon has reduced his public appearances and is focusing on ‘strengthening the substance’ of his campaign. As the number of camp members recently increased, Yoon’s camp expanded its office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to three locations. Preparing for further expansion, they are also looking for additional offices near the National Assembly. The current plan is to relocate around November.

The number of people participating in the camp continues to grow. So far, 18 current lawmakers, all from the People Power Party, have been officially announced. The think tank ‘Meeting to Prepare for 2050,’ which will launch on the 24th, has 100 experts from various fields as members. Additionally, the external support group ‘Fair Reform Forum’ is reportedly preparing to launch by the end of this month. Compared to the camps of former Audit Chief Choi Jae-hyung, which has 9 current lawmakers, and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min’s camp, which has 8, Yoon’s camp is relatively larger in scale.

On the other hand, it still does not reach the scale of the ruling party’s top contender, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung’s camp. Lee’s camp consists of about 40 current lawmakers and approximately 1,800 members of the think tank ‘Policy to Change the World 2022.’ Jang Je-won, a People Power Party lawmaker who serves as the general manager of Yoon’s camp, stated, "We plan to recruit additional current lawmakers."

There is also interest in how this series of moves will affect Yoon’s approval ratings, which have been stagnant or slightly declining. According to a survey conducted from the 16th to the 18th by Embrain Public, K-Stat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research targeting 1,010 people aged 18 and over nationwide, Yoon recorded 19% in suitability for the presidency, the same as the previous survey (9th to 11th), trailing behind Lee, who had 26%. The combined national index survey (NBS) by the four institutions has a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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