"I Will Correct the Mistakes" Yoon Seok-yeol's Campaign Committee Fully Disbanded... Voter Fatigue Remains

Yoon Seok-yeol Announces 'Disbandment of Campaign Committee'... "Will Form a Thoroughly Practical Campaign Committee"
Support Rates for 2030 Presidential Candidates... Lee Jae-myung 33.4%, Ahn Cheol-soo 19.1%, Yoon Seok-yeol 18.4%
Some Suggest 'Candidate Replacement'... Yoon Seok-yeol Says "I Plan to Leave Everything to the People"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference announcing the dissolution of the election campaign committee and his position at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 5th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 5th, Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, declared the complete dissolution of the party's election campaign committee. Accordingly, Kim Jong-in, who had served as the overall campaign committee chairman and played a 'one-top' role, was naturally dismissed. Candidate Yoon stated his intention to dissolve the existing campaign committee and reorganize the election headquarters into a thoroughly practical, working-level body.

However, voter expectations for Yoon's 'complete overhaul of the campaign committee' appear to be low. Due to repeated gaffes, spousal risks, and internal party turmoil, some voters have already turned their backs on Candidate Yoon. Ultimately, at a time when efforts should be united to create a new administration, ongoing disturbances have led even the support base to express disappointment. Experts emphasize that the personnel composition of the campaign headquarters will become even more important.

On the same day, Candidate Yoon held a press conference at the Yeouido party headquarters and apologized for the recent internal party turmoil, saying, "I should have led our election campaign organization and the People Power Party well to reassure the public, but I failed. All of this is entirely my responsibility as the candidate."

Regarding the existing campaign committee, he said, "It was called a 'mammoth,' and I acknowledge the mistakes in the election campaign so far, which failed to properly grasp public sentiment, and I will correct them. I am also well aware of the public's concern that those close to me influence the campaign committee. I will ensure that such worries do not arise in the future."

About the direction of the campaign committee reform, Yoon stated, "I will form a thoroughly practical election headquarters, not by distributing positions to lawmakers," and added, "Capable young working-level staff will lead the campaign headquarters." The new campaign headquarters chief will be Assemblyman Kwon Young-se, a four-term lawmaker. Assemblyman Kwon, who is two years senior to Yoon at Seoul National University Law School, is considered a key figure who facilitated Yoon's party admission last July.

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party (right), and Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, are attending the 2022 New Year Meeting for Small Business Owners held at the Korea Federation of SMEs Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 5th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Despite Candidate Yoon's announcement of reform measures, some voters remain indifferent. Critics point out that Yoon's lack of political experience and ongoing family risks make mere campaign committee reform insufficient to raise expectations. Additionally, Yoon's frequent gaffes and emotional remarks have alienated his support base.

On the party's official website's 'I Have Something to Say' bulletin board, critical posts targeting Candidate Yoon continue to be posted. One party member criticized, "Candidate Yoon is really frustrating. In this busy period, he took two days to deliberate and barely decided to dissolve the existing campaign committee and appoint Assemblyman Kwon. Does he think the presidential election is such a leisurely game?"

Another party member raised their voice, saying, "It seems the People Power Party's lifespan is over. At this point, instead of blaming others, shouldn't we put our heads together and pool wisdom on how to win? It's incompetent."

Meanwhile, a poll showed that the 20s and 30s age group prefers Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, over Candidate Yoon.

According to a presidential election-related poll of 1,024 men and women aged 18 to 39 nationwide conducted by Realmeter on behalf of YTN on the 3rd and 4th and announced on the same day, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party recorded 33.4%, ranking first. Ahn Cheol-soo came in at 19.1%, 0.7 percentage points ahead of Yoon (18.4%). Following were Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party at 7.5% and Kim Dong-yeon of the New Wave Party at 1.4%.

When asked about "the person you think should not become president," Candidate Yoon topped the list with 48.8%, followed by Candidate Lee at 36.2%. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, attended the '2022 Stock Market Festival' held on the 3rd in front of the Korea Exchange headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and are moving to the ceremony location.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

As Candidate Yoon's approval ratings decline, some are even advocating for a 'candidate replacement.' Party members have voiced opinions on the party website such as, "Can't Candidate Yoon resign? Stop being stubborn and step down," "We need to replace the candidate to change the administration," and "The number one cause of the approval rating drop is Candidate Yoon himself. For the sake of regime change, Yoon Seok-yeol should immediately resign as candidate."

In response, Candidate Yoon said, "I intend to leave everything to the people," adding, "Since I was elected as the candidate of the main opposition party, if the public thinks there are shortcomings, please let me know."

Experts emphasize that as the existing campaign committee is dissolved and simplified into a practical campaign headquarters system, the personnel composition will become more important. Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, "Due to risks involving the candidate himself and his spouse, approval ratings continue to decline. The conflict with Representative Lee Jun-seok can also be seen as a candidate risk in a broader sense. The candidate should manage these conflicts, but failing to do so has worsened the situation," adding, "Chairman Kim took the lead to improve this situation, but he was also pushed out."

He continued, "Public sentiment will change depending on how Candidate Yoon acts going forward," and added, "However, since the organization will be simplified into a practical, small elite group, the personnel composition will inevitably become even more important."

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