Fundraising Ends 20 Hours 15 Minutes After Account Opening
Yoon "I Think This Reflects the People's Desire for Regime Change"
[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Yoon Seok-yeol, a leading opposition presidential candidate and former Prosecutor General, has reached the maximum fundraising limit of 2,565,450,000 KRW on the first day of collecting campaign donations. He is the first candidate across both ruling and opposition parties to reach the fundraising limit on the very first day.
On the 26th, Yoon expressed his gratitude through his social media (SNS), saying, "I don't know how to properly thank everyone, but by 8:15 PM on the 26th, the last deposit was made, reaching the total fundraising limit of 2,565,450,000 KRW in less than a day."
He added, "Seeing this record-breaking fundraising, I believe it reflects the people's strong desire for a change in government. Together with everyone who contributed, I will make sure to build a fair Republic of Korea where common sense prevails."
Yoon, who registered as a preliminary presidential candidate with the National Election Commission, can raise up to 5% of the election expense limit (51,309,000,000 KRW) through his support committee.
Earlier, Yoon's camp announced that as of 4:30 PM on the 26th, about 15,000 people had donated approximately 1,954,000,000 KRW, which is about 80% of the fundraising limit, predicting that the full amount would be reached within the day.
With this rapid fundraising pace, Yoon was able to demonstrate strong support consolidation, providing relief amid the recent sharp decline in his approval ratings.
Meanwhile, Yoon is the first to reach the full fundraising amount on the first day.
Previously, the ruling party’s Lee Jae-myung campaign had publicized raising 1 billion KRW in one day, 1.5 billion KRW in three days, and 2 billion KRW in a week. Yoon’s fundraising speed is more than twice as fast as Lee Jae-myung, a leading ruling party presidential candidate, who raised 1 billion KRW in one day.
Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon raised about 814 million KRW, and former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae raised about 200 million KRW on their first day of fundraising. President Moon Jae-in raised 731,080,000 KRW within a day and a half after opening his account as a preliminary candidate in the 2017 20th presidential election.
Attention is also focused on the proportion of small donations under 100,000 KRW, as a higher ratio of small donations can prove the "mainstream theory." Lee Jae-myung’s campaign emphasized that small donors contributing under 100,000 KRW accounted for 95.7% of total donations.
Yoon Seok-yeol’s campaign is currently compiling data on the proportion of small donations and the total number of donors. A campaign official stated, "We plan to disclose the number of small donations and donors by the morning of the 27th."
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