Choo Mi-ae Takes the Lead... Honorary Election Committee Vice Chair Begins Offline Activities in Full Swing

Campaigning for Support in Bucheon and Ansan
Attacking Yoon over Shincheonji, Boosting Lee with Gyeonggi-do COVID-19 Measures
Some Point Out "Sharp Remarks Evoke Chu-Yoon Conflict, Overshadowing Lee"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] With the official election campaign underway, former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, who serves as the honorary election committee chairperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, is stepping forward to support Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

On the 18th, from 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM, former Minister Choo will hold support rallies for candidate Lee in Bucheon and Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. This is her first regional campaign event since starting rallies with candidate Lee in Daegu and Seoul on the first day of the official campaign, the 15th.

During the rallies, former Minister Choo mainly emphasizes that candidate Lee is the right person to overcome crises. She claims that when COVID-19 spread in Daegu, candidate Yoon Seok-youl refused to order a search of Shincheonji facilities after listening to a shaman named Geon Jin-beop, and then gave false explanations.

She appeals to voters to choose candidate Lee by mentioning that during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province, Lee secured a list from the Shincheonji headquarters and led the COVID-19 testing of its leader, Lee Man-hee.

Until now, her support had mainly been through social media, but she now appears to be taking a more prominent role. Before the rally, former Minister Choo appeared on KBS Radio’s “Choi Kyung-young’s Strong Current Affairs” and said about candidate Yoon’s prosecution policies, “If Yoon is elected, democracy will regress more severely than during the Yushin or Chun Doo-hwan eras.”

However, some criticize that former Minister Choo’s sharp remarks have caused controversy, overshadowing candidate Lee’s rallies and speeches, which should be the main focus. During the Democratic Party primary, former party leader Lee Nak-yeon, who competed against candidate Lee, was appointed as the general election committee chairperson on the 9th. Former Minister Choo posted on social media that “Lee Nak-yeon’s apology must come first” and demanded an apology, stating, “During last September’s Democratic Party presidential primary, Lee Nak-yeon was the first to raise the issue that Hwacheon Daeyu was related to Lee Jae-myung’s corruption, but it turned out to be a mistaken accusation.” She later deleted the post amid controversy.

Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon pointed out, “The contest should be framed as a battle between candidate Lee and candidate Yoon, but former Minister Choo’s sharp remarks make it appear as a confrontation between Choo Mi-ae and Yoon Seok-youl to the public,” adding, “This relatively diminishes candidate Lee’s presence and ultimately does not help his approval ratings.”

Um Kyung-young, director of the Era Spirit Research Institute, also said, “Candidate Yoon became a presidential candidate by gaining support from moderate voters and the 2030 generation amid the Cho Kuk incident and the Choo-Yoon conflict,” and added, “To expand support beyond the 40s and 50s age group to these demographics, remarks that recall those situations should be avoided.”

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