Kwon Seong-dong: "Yoon Loyal to the People and Constitution... Proud to Be a 'Yoon Core Follower'"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is greeting supporters at a campaign rally held in front of Donghae City Hall, Gangwon Province, on the 28th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The so-called 'Yun Core Group (Yun Seok-yeol Core Associates)' controversy surrounding the People Power Party is emerging. Following the revelation that Rep. Jang Je-won acted as the full authority representative for the People Power Party during the opposition unification talks, Rep. Kwon Seong-dong emphasized that he himself is part of the Yun Core Group.

On the 28th, at a campaign event in Donghae City, Gangwon Province, Rep. Kwon stated, "I am proud to be part of the Yun Core Group," adding, "I chose Yun Seok-yeol because he is loyal not to individuals but to the people and the constitution."

Rep. Kwon introduced, "Yun Seok-yeol is a son of Gangwon Province. I was once part of the Yun Core Group, but now I am part of the Yun Mul-gwan (those distanced from Candidate Yun). The new Yun Core Group member is Rep. Lee Cheol-gyu." Rep. Lee represents the constituencies of Donghae City, Taebaek City, Samcheok City, and Jeongseon County in Gangwon Province.

He also referred to Candidate Yun's press conference announcing the failure of unification with Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People’s Party. Rep. Kwon said, "You might have wondered why Candidate Yun did not engage in opposition unification, but we sincerely made many efforts quietly and behind the scenes for opposition unity."

He continued, "We accepted all the conditions requested by Candidate Ahn and drafted an agreement, but they rejected it," asserting, "The responsibility for the failure of opposition unification lies not with us but with them."

Rep. Kwon has been a close aide to Candidate Yun since the People Power Party’s presidential primary, serving as the candidate’s chief secretary and party secretary-general. However, on January 5th, amid a major reorganization of the election campaign, he resigned from both the party secretary-general and the comprehensive support headquarters chief positions.

Earlier, Rep. Jang Je-won, who was also classified as part of the Yun Core Group along with Rep. Kwon, declared his voluntary withdrawal from active politics at the end of November last year when his position became linked to the then campaign chairman Kim Jong-in’s participation in the campaign.

However, the controversy over the Yun Core Group has resurfaced recently as it was confirmed that Rep. Jang acted as the full authority representative for the People Power Party during the opposition unification process between Candidate Yun and Candidate Ahn.

In response, the Democratic Party strongly criticized Candidate Yun, saying he "deceived the people." Democratic Party floor leader Yoon Ho-jung said to Candidate Yun, "How hard it must have been to keep the Yun Core Group tightly hidden. You said Rep. Jang Je-won, who holds no position and does not come to work, is not part of the Yun Core Group, but that turned out to be a lie."

He added, "Rep. Jang, the full authority representative in the unification negotiations, is the core of the Yun Core Group," and said, "His habitual lying raises suspicion of Ripley’s syndrome, a condition characterized by compulsive lying."

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