Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who declared his candidacy for the presidential election, visited the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the 30th. After submitting his party membership application to Kwon Young-se, Chairman of the External Cooperation Committee, he is taking a commemorative photo. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group
[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The Democratic Party of Korea strongly criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol’s entry into the People Power Party on the 30th. Following former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung, Yoon’s joining was fiercely condemned as violating the political independence of heads of investigative agencies and as an act of disrupting the constitutional order.
On the same day, former Prosecutor General Yoon visited the People Power Party’s central office in Yeouido in the morning and completed the party membership process. This came one month after he declared his presidential candidacy on the 29th of last month. Regarding his decision to join the party, Yoon stated, “For regime change, it is only right to join the main opposition party and start fairly from the primaries,” adding, “I thought the party could gain broader and more universal support from the people.”
Party leader Song Young-gil, after visiting the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the afternoon, told reporters, “I don’t understand why Yoon Seok-yeol is doing politics,” and added, “Since his approval ratings are high and power needs to be changed, the public will watch how long such vague thinking can sustain politics.” He also said, “When Yoon was Prosecutor General, he investigated and arrested the Park Geun-hye administration and its surrounding forces, which were created by the party he is now joining, as a state corruption group.”
Senior Supreme Council member Kim Yong-min said on social media, “The political investigations and prosecutions he conducted while serving as Prosecutor General were ultimately sacrifices made to join the People Power Party,” adding, “A harsh period of scrutiny awaits. Also, the time for complete prosecution reform will begin.”
Senior Supreme Council member Kang Byung-won also posted on social media, “The ‘moment of the star’ was a lie from the start. It’s just ridiculous to see someone who is not at all fair before the people insist on having a fair primary,” and “The People Power Party is truly pitiful. Since those who have been in politics within the party for decades are not receiving support, they hastily discarded them and have been focused on inviting candidates from outside the party. It is deplorable.”
Senior Supreme Council member Kim Young-bae said, “Candidate Yoon, who traveled nationwide engaging in ‘one outrageous remark a day’ along with daytime drinking, has joined the People Power Party,” and added, “Now let’s have a proper fight. The real battle starts now.”
Presidential hopefuls also joined in. Hong Jeong-min, spokesperson for Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung’s Open Camp, criticized in a statement, “Since former Prosecutor General Yoon is loyal to the organization, he will become the most biased spokesperson for the People Power Party’s factional logic.”
Former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae said on social media, “Formally it is party membership, but in reality, it is the People Power Party’s takeover by a political prosecutor. The direct leap from Prosecutor General to presidential candidate and then to the opposition party is a direct blow to democracy, an insult to the people, and a crime against history,” and added, “The People Power Party still cannot give up its illusions about political soldier Chun Doo-hwan and will have to bear the consequences of accepting a political prosecutor for a long time.”
Assemblyman Park Yong-jin also emphasized, “The successive political declarations and entry into the main opposition party by heads of investigative agencies, who are strictly required to maintain political neutrality, are acts that disrupt the constitutional order and shake the democratic political order,” and said, “The two former heads of investigative agencies, whose lifeblood is political independence, must bear appropriate responsibility for this.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
