[Full Text] Yoon Seok-yeol, People Power Party Presidential Candidate Acceptance Speech: "I Will Reestablish Fairness and Justice"

Promise to Build a Strong Security System, a Nation of Sincerity, Welfare, and Culture

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Yoon Seok-yeol, former Prosecutor General and the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, promised on the 5th, "I will restore fairness and justice."

After being selected as the People Power Party’s presidential candidate on the same day, Yoon said in his acceptance speech, "The belief that our society operates based on fairness and common sense, that trust as social capital, becomes the foundation for solving many problems in our society and achieving growth and prosperity." He added, "I will dismantle the new deep-rooted evils of power and the cartel of corruption nested everywhere."

He emphasized, "A society where outcomes are distorted by unfairness kills challenge and effort," and said, "I will block the inheritance of vested interests and reconnect the broken ladder of social mobility."

Yoon stated, "I will build a nation of national unity," adding, "The Moon administration divided this country through ideology and by splitting the people," and declared, "There cannot be a separate progressive Korea and conservative Korea."

He also promised growth and welfare, a cultural powerhouse, creative education, and a robust security system.

Additionally, Yoon mentioned the pledges of three candidates who lost in the primary: Representative Hong Joon-pyo, former Representative Yoo Seung-min, and former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, promising, "I will uphold the dreams and visions of these three who stayed with me until the end of the primary."

Below is the full text of the acceptance speech.

We will open an era of regime change and national victory.

Ⅰ

Respected citizens! Beloved comrades of the People Power Party!

I am Yoon Seok-yeol, elected as the People Power Party’s presidential candidate.

I feel a grave sense of responsibility and

a heavy mission for regime change rather than joy.

To all the citizens who fervently supported me,

and to the party comrades who passionately backed me, I deeply thank you.

To Representative Lee Jun-seok and the party leadership who made the primary a dynamic stage,

to Chairman Jeong Hong-won and the election commission members who managed the primary fairly, I also extend my deep gratitude.

Since this was a new path and my first time, there were many shortcomings,

but with the great support and encouragement of the people yearning for regime change,

I have come this far.

There are no winners or losers here today.

If we win on March 9 next year, everyone will be a winner,

but if not, we will all be recorded as losers.

I will uphold the dreams and visions of the three who stayed with me until the end of the primary.

I will learn from the experience of senior candidate Hong Joon-pyo

and his vision of achieving ‘G7 advanced country’ status.

I will prioritize the economic expert Yoo Seung-min’s pledge to ‘train one million digital talents’

and job creation pledges.

I will use former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong’s ‘National Chance’

if he permits me to do so.

It was an infinite honor for me to be able to work with these political seniors.

If I have hurt anyone’s feelings during the fierce primary process,

please kindly understand and forgive me.

Now we are one team.

We have no freedom to divide in the face of the great cause of regime change.

If we fail to meet the people’s passionate desire, we all

will commit an unforgivable sin before the people and history.

The mission of regime change cannot be achieved by me alone.

We all must unite.

Ⅱ

Respected citizens! Beloved party comrades!

Our People Power Party is coming back to life.

The public’s desire for change and innovation in the party led to the unprecedented election of a 30-something youth as party leader.

Our party has been reborn as a party supported by young people.

The public’s desire to restore fairness and common sense in society

led to the selection of a political newcomer, me, as the People Power Party’s presidential candidate.

Gathering that hope, I now confidently say to the people:

‘Together with you,

I will definitely achieve regime change.’

I always keep in my heart the will of the people who called me to politics.

The order is to correct privileges and unfairness rampant in every corner of society

based on fair standards without political calculation.

As seen in the Daejang-dong gate, it is to root out the huge corruption cartel

and reform the established political circles.

It is to unify the people without dividing into my side and your side.

This is the value of my existence, Yoon Seok-yeol, and the path I will take.

I have lived with the belief that ‘I am loyal not to people but only to the people.’

Public officials must always be honest when facing the people,

and I have walked steadfastly with that principle.

This regime will be very afraid and deeply hurt by my primary victory.

Because I am a symbol of fairness that broke down Cho Kuk’s hypocrisy and Chu Mi-ae’s arrogance.

Because it is a fatal pain that undermines the legitimacy of the Moon Jae-in administration.

This regime has persistently tried to bring me down.

They thought that if they could only destroy me, the regime would automatically extend,

and have been thoroughly attacking me for two years.

It will continue. They will not give up.

No political plot can bring down me, Yoon Seok-yeol.

No political plot can destroy the people’s desire for regime change.

Because Yoon Seok-yeol is no longer an individual,

but the people’s aspiration for the restoration of fairness and justice.

Because the people will protect me.

Ⅲ

This presidential election is not an ordinary election.

It is a desperate election on which the fate of the country depends.

If regime change does not happen, the violation of the rule of law will continue,

and abnormality will become normal, giving wings to the Democratic Party’s deviations.

How much more will they distort the country’s legal order

to prevent their corruption from being exposed?

The Moon administration’s income-led growth and real estate surge are ‘property plunder.’

Malignant populism is ‘tax plunder.’

National debt exceeding 1,000 trillion won is ‘future plunder.’

If there is no regime change, the plundering of the people

will become blatant, permanent, and structural.

Can the country’s economy be saved with a cartel that plunders the people’s interests?

Can the country function properly with forces benefiting from dividing the people?

Can challenge and innovation grow in a society without trust where fairness and common sense have collapsed?

I will make March 9 next year a day when the proud Korea you knew returns.

A day when the rule of law you knew returns,

a day when the fairness you knew returns,

a day when the common sense you knew returns.

Ⅳ

Respected citizens!

I and our People Power Party will restore fairness and common sense to normalize Korea,

and make the heart of Korea, which has stopped, beat again.

For this, I promise the people.

I will restore fairness and justice.

The belief that our society operates based on fairness and common sense,

that trust as social capital solves many problems in our society

and becomes the foundation for our society’s growth and prosperity.

I will dismantle the new deep-rooted evils of power

and the cartel of corruption nested everywhere.

A society where outcomes are distorted by unfairness

kills challenge and effort.

I will block the inheritance of vested interests and reconnect

the broken ladder of social mobility.

I will build a nation of national unity.

The Moon administration divided this country through ideology and by splitting the people.

There cannot be a separate progressive Korea and conservative Korea.

I will shed the old ideological clothes

and work with all citizens who agree with liberal democracy.

Only when we overcome differences of region, class, gender, and generation and harmonize

can we promise stable national development.

I will restart Korea’s growth engine.

The market is not omnipotent.

But we cannot return to the past state-led economy.

Job creation comes from corporate creativity and innovation.

I will abolish unnecessary regulations and focus support on companies leading the 4th Industrial Revolution such as AI,

raising the fallen potential growth rate again.

Growth and distribution are one body.

Growth creates quality jobs,

and fills the treasury for welfare.

Welfare is the responsibility of the state.

No matter how fair the competition is guaranteed,

not everyone can be a winner of competition.

We must help the truly vulnerable in the name of fairness and common sense.

I will strengthen welfare for socially vulnerable groups.

I will strengthen support for self-employed and small business owners,

and restore the vanished middle class.

I will make Korea a cultural powerhouse.

The Korean Wave that started with dramas is spreading worldwide in various forms such as K-pop, movies, Korean cuisine, and Hangul.

The Korean Wave is a powerful soft power that, beyond cultural industry,

shows the world the artistic talent and creativity of our people.

The government will support but not interfere,

so that Korea can rise as a cultural powerhouse in the world.

I will strengthen creative education.

Creativity is the competitiveness of the future.

Our precious children must grow up with creativity.

I will thoroughly prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution era through educational innovation.

I will build a robust security system that the people can trust.

Through thorough cooperation with the international community,

I will pursue denuclearization more efficiently.

I will strengthen cooperation with countries that share democracy values with us,

and conduct pragmatic diplomacy prioritizing national interests.

Ⅴ

Respected and beloved citizens!

I, Yoon Seok-yeol, will be a president who listens and communicates.

The essence of politics is to resolve conflicts caused by differences in various interests, values, and beliefs.

In totalitarian states, problems are resolved by the leader’s ‘arbitrariness,’

but in democracy, only dialogue and compromise are solutions.

I will be a president who listens to the people’s voices.

I will be a president who takes responsibility.

Leaders who ignore experts due to ideology are no longer needed.

I will appoint capable experts regardless of faction or party,

delegate authority boldly, and clearly take responsibility for the results.

There will be no double standards in Yoon Seok-yeol’s dictionary.

I will be a president with sincerity.

Even if it means loss,

I will approach with principles, conviction, common sense, and sincerity.

If I fail to read the people’s hearts, support and backing for me

can turn into criticism and anger at any time,

and I will approach with humility.

I will be a president who does not abuse power.

I have seen national policies change unlawfully by a single presidential order.

I will end the era of presidents who reign above the law

and take the first step toward a nation where the people are the true owners.

Ⅵ

Respected citizens!

How much hardship have you endured due to COVID-19?

I deeply feel how much pain the government’s wrong decisions and incompetence

have caused in the lives of the people.

I will protect and safeguard the people from the COVID crisis.

I will restore the lives of the common people and vulnerable groups

who were devastated by the COVID pandemic to pre-COVID levels.

The pain of the people caused by this regime’s division was no less.

How hard and painful have you been during the four and a half years of this regime?

This presidential election is a battle between the common-sense Yoon Seok-yeol and the irrational Lee Jae-myung.

A battle between a rationalist and a populist.

Judge this immorality that seeks a victory without principles

by nominating a candidate again who represents division and populism.

From a ‘country of vested interests’ to a ‘country of opportunity,’

from a ‘plundering Korea’ to a ‘fair Korea,’

I will change it.

I will definitely achieve regime change.

I will end politics of division and anger, politics of corruption and plunder.

I will surely create a new Korea.

Thank you.

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