[Party Leader Interview] Song Young-gil "Unification is Political Old-fashioned... Golden Cross Approaching at the Final Stage"

"Thin Ice Situation Clear but People Will Choose Competent Candidate"
"Daejangdong Scandal Mastermind is Candidate Yoon, Special Prosecutor to be Pursued Regardless of Election Outcome"
Ruling Party's Weakness is Real Estate... Emphasizing Housing Price Stability and Supply Expansion

Song Young-gil, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea / Democratic Party of Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] "The current situation is clearly on thin ice. However, public sentiment will ultimately choose a competent candidate who is strong in times of crisis."

Ahead of the so-called ‘blackout’ period, during which the publication and reporting of public opinion polls related to the 20th presidential election are prohibited, Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed confidence in the recent election landscape. He judged that the stagnation of Democratic presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s approval ratings, which had remained in the 30% range, has already been surpassed through TV debates and other events. Song evaluated, "Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party candidate, is in a stagnant situation, while Candidate Lee is continuing an upward trend, laying the groundwork for a comeback." Although the interview took place before the unification of Yoon Seok-youl and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, Song dismissed the unification as "the end of old-fashioned politics" and asserted, "The public will not cast a precious vote here."

In an interview with Asia Economy on the 28th of last month, Song predicted Candidate Lee’s advantage, saying, "Looking at recent polling trends, the final decisive golden cross is right before our eyes." He analyzed the current situation as being on thin ice, with many polls showing a 1-2% difference. However, he emphasized that in times of crisis, the public has no choice but to select a competent candidate.

Regarding the results showing that the approval ratings gap between the two candidates, which had once widened to 8-9%, is now within the margin of error or that Candidate Lee has overtaken in some polls, he said, "The public’s enthusiasm for the birth of a new democratic government is heating up," and added, "There will be no problem with the ‘Lee Jae-myung elected’ subtitle filling the TV screen when the exit poll results are announced at 7:30 p.m. on March 9."

◆ Yoon-Ahn Unification Variable, "The Public..." = On the morning of the 3rd, the unification of Candidate Yoon and Candidate Ahn was abruptly achieved. In the earlier interview, Song predicted the unification as "the end of old-fashioned Yeouido politics," and said, "The public will not cast a precious vote."

He also criticized Yoon’s attitude during the unification negotiation process. Targeting Yoon, who gave up local campaign schedules last week and held an emergency press conference himself, Song said, "It was an attempt to evade responsibility," and added, "He even created controversy by admitting the existence of the so-called ‘Yoon core group,’ which he had so strongly denied."

However, the unification of Yoon and Ahn did not align with Song’s expectations. He described the opposition candidates’ conflict as "irreparable," and said, "The opposition unification talks, which had been running parallel for months, are now truly over. It can only be seen as a result of Candidate Yoon’s arrogance and Representative Lee Jun-seok’s harsh remarks."

Regarding the Daejang-dong controversy, which is central to the negative campaign, Song said, "Recent reports and evidence increasingly reveal that Candidate Yoon is the main figure behind the Daejang-dong allegations," strongly denying the responsibility of Candidate Lee, which had been raised since the early stages of the Daejang-dong incident. He also stated that regardless of the election outcome, a special prosecutor would be promptly appointed under the permanent special prosecutor law. Song emphasized, "The fact that Kim Man-bae’s sister, who is completely unrelated, purchased the house of Candidate Yoon’s father is also full of suspicions," and added, "Revealing the special relationship connecting Yoon Seok-youl, Park Young-soo, and Kim Man-bae is the key to resolving the Daejang-dong allegations."

◆ "All Included in the Political Reform Plan" = Song had previously announced the Democratic Party’s political reform plan himself. He explained, "It contains all the content and methods to reform old politics such as the two-party system and winner-takes-all structure." Song said that the political world deeply empathizes with the structural and institutional limitations of Korean politics, and emphasized that this election should be an opportunity to make definite changes.

Regarding the ruling party’s weakness on real estate issues, Song reiterated his commitment to lowering housing prices and increasing supply. The Democratic Party had announced a development plan to supply 12,000 housing units through public development in Guryeong Village, Gangnam, Seoul, of which 5,000 units would be supplied at less than half price to youth and newlyweds. After the announcement, controversies over preferential treatment and unauthorized housing issues emerged as obstacles. Song said, "We will recover all development profits and guarantee investment in development projects to the citizens who want it to block preferential treatment controversies," and added, "The unauthorized housing issue is not a major obstacle because we will give residents the right to move in."

As the winning strategy for the remaining election period, he cited a ‘humble attitude’ and a ‘desperate heart.’ Song said, "The Democratic Party has been lacking in many ways, but I think the public is evaluating our willingness to change through supplementary budget processing and political reform plans for national unity," and stated, "We will do our best to regain trust during the remaining period."

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