Yoon Seok-yeol: "Decided to enter politics after a friend said 'I want to emigrate'... Tadpole days"

"Friends even say things like 'If you go into politics, I'll wait a little.'"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, made a surprise appearance at the talk show "Straight Talk Live Grand Opening" of the candidate's direct committee "A Republic of Korea to Look Forward to Tomorrow," held at a cafe in Yeouido, Seoul, on the evening of the 14th. He is seen conversing with Chairman Yoon Hee-sook and other attendees. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, revealed that a decisive reason for his decision to enter politics was hearing his friends say they wanted to emigrate.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Yoon appeared on the YouTube live broadcast 'Seokyeol Hyung TV Season 2' with Lee Jun-seok, where Lee asked him, "When did you first think about going into politics?" Yoon responded accordingly.

Yoon said, "(The first point) was in my late 20s. Around 1987 to 1988, when the constitution was being changed," adding, "At that time, I was unemployed, so rather than thinking about running for the National Assembly, I briefly considered that if I passed the bar exam, I might naturally engage in intellectual activities in the moderate camp and try politics."

He confessed, "After resigning as Prosecutor General, I had many worries around April to May last year. People around me often told me to go into politics, but I thought, 'If I listen to this and go into politics, I shouldn't do it.'

He continued, "I had a meeting with close friends, and I heard them say they wanted to emigrate. They said, 'Where would you live here (in South Korea)?' My friends also said, 'If you go into politics, I'll wait for you a little.' On my way home, I decided to set my direction toward that (politics)."

He added, "Even until I declared my political participation on June 29, I think I didn't fully understand the meaning of going into politics," and humorously said, "Looking back a few months later, that time was still the tadpole stage," which made Lee and the hosts laugh.

In response, Lee asked, "If you had not become the final candidate and someone else had, would you have continued in politics?" Yoon replied, "Even if someone else became the candidate, I thought I would work harder until March 9 next year (the presidential election) and the local elections than if I were the candidate." However, he added, "After that, I don't know what I would have done."

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