North Korea Criticizes Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, Saying "He Might Shine Briefly and Then Disappear"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] "Yoon Seok-yeol, may shine like a shooting star and then disappear."

North Korea recently gave an unusual evaluation of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who has emerged as a leading presidential candidate.

North Korea's external propaganda outlet Tongil-ui Meari (Echo of Unification) on the 17th released a broadcast drama script, in the form of a dialogue between Yoon and his wife, titled "The Shooting Star Incident at the House of Stars."

The outlet criticized, saying, "Former Prosecutor General Yoon may have caught not the moment of a star but the moment of a shooting star," adding, "This is a bad omen."

In the drama, Yoon's wife also appears. She sarcastically remarks, "Just like Ban Ki-moon, who once rose as a presidential candidate but fell like a stone, how do you know you won't just shine briefly and eventually disappear?"

This is interpreted as mocking former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in's remarks in January and March, when he said Yoon would "see the moment of a star" and "caught the moment of a star well," implying that the opportunity to run for president had come.

By comparing Yoon to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who once pursued a presidential bid but withdrew, the drama indirectly criticizes Yoon for potentially disappearing without becoming a presidential candidate.

The drama also ridicules Yoon's silence amid love calls from the People Power Party, the three phone calls to Yoon's house, reports from conservative and progressive media, and allegations involving his wife in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation scandal and his mother-in-law's fraudulent nursing hospital claims, broadly criticizing them all.

While North Korea's external propaganda media has often criticized Yoon, it is considered unusual that this time they employed a broadcast drama format.

North Korea has harshly criticized the Moon Jae-in administration's defense strengthening and North Korea policy, yet it shows a negative stance toward the possibility of Yoon becoming a leading presidential candidate supported by conservative forces.

With the next presidential election just 10 months away, North Korea is expected to continue its checks on such opposition presidential candidates for the time being.

In the past, ahead of the 2017 presidential election, North Korea also fiercely criticized Ahn Cheol-soo, then a candidate of the People's Party, who was attracting conservative votes, using its propaganda media, and indirectly criticized Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party and Yoo Seung-min of the Bareun Party.