Yoon Mentions "Undercover Party Members"... Opposition Presidential Candidates Strongly Condemn as "Daily Outrageous Remarks and Insult to Party Members"

Yoo Seung-min "Show the Evidence", Hong Joon-pyo Side "Insult to Party Members"
Choi Jae-hyung Side "Blaming Others for Plummeting Approval Ratings", Won Hee-ryong "Words Went Too Far"
Lee Jun-seok Leader "Possible Error in Interpretation of Voter List" Steps In to Manage

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] When Yoon Seok-yeol, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party and former Prosecutor General, raised suspicions that "many disguised party members have joined" in relation to the presidential primary election, rival candidates within the party strongly opposed the claim.

On the 4th, Yoon, who visited the People Power Party Busan branch, stated, "There are talks that many Democratic Party supporters, who will vote in the primary but will not vote for the People Power Party candidate in the general election, have joined our party," raising suspicions about 'disguised party members.'

In response, rival candidates criticized Yoon’s remarks as inappropriate and demanded an apology. Candidate Yoo Seung-min said on social media, "Since Representative Lee Jun-seok was elected, the number of new party members in their 20s and 30s has increased significantly. Are you saying these people are disguised party members?" He added, "If you have evidence, present it immediately; if not, apologize to the party members."

He continued, "How can a candidate who continuously makes gaffes whenever he opens his mouth bring about a regime change?" and criticized, "He has become a laughingstock for the entire nation with daily blunders."

The camp of Assemblyman Hong Joon-pyo called the remarks "an insult to party members" and urged the party leadership to issue a stern warning to Yoon and demand an official apology. The camp’s spokesperson, Yeomyeong, stated in a commentary, "These remarks divide party members who have stood by the party through thick and thin long before Candidate Yoon joined," and lamented, "It is dangerous as it could provide grounds for candidates to reject the primary results at a time when unity is needed after the final primary."

Kim Jun-ho, spokesperson for former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung, criticized, "Are you blaming others for your plummeting approval ratings?" and said, "Ask your mentor behind the curtain why your ratings are falling." Former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong also questioned on social media, "The gaffes have gone too far," and asked, "Didn’t Candidate Yoon recently join the party? Then is Candidate Yoon a disguised candidate?"

As the controversy grew, Representative Lee Jun-seok quickly moved to defuse the situation, saying there seemed to be an error in Yoon’s camp’s interpretation of the voter list. Lee explained on social media, "The voter list was transparently disclosed to allow each candidate to prepare for the election by revealing the scope of the test, but it seems Yoon’s camp made an error in interpreting that data."

Lee added, "Our candidates are leading the debates successfully, which is increasing party membership, and since online party membership?which is relatively difficult to organize?is high, there doesn’t seem to be a big problem," and concluded, "Everyone should study hard according to the test scope."

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