Lee Jun-seok: "Ahn Cheol-soo's approval rating is DTD... It’s uncertain if he advances to the final round"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former party leader Lee Jun-seok, who is sponsoring multiple candidates for party leader, supreme council member, and youth supreme council member in this party convention, suggested the possibility of candidate Cheon Ha-ram advancing to the runoff, stating that candidate Ahn Cheol-soo's approval ratings will continue to decline.

On the 8th, on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs,' former leader Lee said, "Candidate Ahn's election approval rating is always highest at the start. For those who like professional baseball, there is a somewhat outdated term called DTD," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

DTD is a Konglish coined term meaning 'Down Team is Down,' implying that 'teams that are going down will go down.' It refers to teams whose true abilities show in the mid-to-long term, even if they shine briefly at the beginning.

Candidate Cheon, boosted by former leader Lee's support, has risen into the top three, but a surge is needed to advance to the runoff. Former leader Lee said, "Candidate Cheon should expect a surge like the one that happened to me in a past party convention," adding, "There needs to be extreme disgust toward the current behaviors of candidates Yang."

He mentioned the past competition between former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, during which third-place candidate former President Roh Tae-woo was elected president, saying, "Who would have thought that after the democratization in 1987, the fruits of democratization that the people gained through all the protests would be taken by Roh Tae-woo?" He predicted that an unexpected event could occur.

He continued, "The runoff voting increased the dramatic possibility. Once you advance to the runoff, what happens next is unknown," adding, "In the past, President Park Geun-hye had the strongest control over party members in history. However, at that time, President Park disliked Kim Moo-sung so much that she tried hard to create a figure like Seo Cheong-won but failed."

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