Kim Woong, Yoon Seok-yeol and Lee Jun-seok's Tension... "Lee, Self-Sacrificing for the Election"

Lee Jun-seok "I stayed quiet, then a candidate rose... I will keep pouring cold water"

Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, announced the list of spokespersons for Yoo Seung-min's preliminary candidate camp at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 9th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party and spokesperson for former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min's camp, evaluated on the 30th that the tension between People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok and candidate Yoon Seok-yeol actually helped Yoon's side.

On the evening of the 30th, Kim appeared on YTN Radio's "Lee Dong-hyung's News Face-off" and opened by saying, "In any case, during the primary process, candidates must fight fiercely within the party. That’s how articles get published, and the public gets to see them more often."

He continued, "In fact, when Lee came out critically at the right timing, when Yoon's approval rating was sharply falling, Yoon's rating was maintained," adding, "When Lee stopped mentioning it altogether, Yoon's approval rating kept dropping."

Earlier, Lee appeared on JTBC the previous day and said, "As the party leader, when I said that I might lose by a 5% point margin, people started saying things like 'Is the leader a spy?' and 'Why are you pouring cold water?'" He added, "I will continue to pour cold water from now on."

He also questioned, "I don’t understand the idea that the leader should be quiet for the candidate to rise. Did the candidate rise when I was quiet?"

Regarding this, when the host asked, "If the candidate and party leader have a tension, wouldn’t the party’s approval rating fluctuate?" Kim replied, "There is no change in the party’s approval rating."

He added, "Even in the polls themselves, there is no change, and rather the article share has increased a lot," saying, "It seems Lee is sacrificing himself for the party and the election."

Yoon Seok-yeol, former Prosecutor General and presidential candidate of the People Power Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, a recent poll on suitability for the opposition presidential candidate showed that candidate Yoon and People Power Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo are competing within the margin of error.

According to a survey conducted by the Korea Social Opinion Institute (KSOI) commissioned by TBS on the 27th and 28th, targeting 1,015 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, in the conservative bloc presidential candidate suitability poll, Hong recorded 21.7%, up 1.2 percentage points from the previous week, closely following former Prosecutor General Yoon, who had 25.9%, within the margin of error. Yoon’s rating dropped 2.5 percentage points from 28.4% the previous week.

This survey was conducted 100% via wireless ARS, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and a response rate of 7.0%. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission and the Korea Social Opinion Institute websites.

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