Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential primary candidate, is greeting merchants at Masan Fish Market in Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam Province, on the afternoon of the 18th. (Photo by Yonhap News)
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Food columnist Hwang Gyo-ik claimed that there is a faction that regards Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential primary candidate, as the "king of royalists." Yoon's campaign team denied Hwang's claim, stating it is not true.
On the 20th, Hwang said on his Facebook, "The political landscape of Korea should be interpreted not as 'conservative vs. progressive' but as 'royalists vs. republicans.'"
Along with his post, Hwang uploaded a photo of Yoon campaigning at Seoul Station the previous day. The photo, apparently a screenshot of a citizen's Instagram story, includes the phrase, "I was about to go down the escalator when an official above said, 'This is presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol. Please greet him.'"
Hwang stated, "Yoon Seok-yeol supporters are royalists who supported Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-hwan, Lee Myung-bak, and Park Geun-hye," adding, "(To them) Yoon Seok-yeol is a king to be served in the future."
Therefore, he argued, "The citizens meeting Yoon were intimidated into bowing first to show respect."
On the other hand, Hwang referred to republicans as "those who beheaded the king." He explained, "Republicans are citizens who participated in the Donghak Peasant Revolution, the March 1st Independence Movement, the Shanghai Provisional Government, the April 19 Revolution, the Gwangju Uprising, the June Democratic Uprising, and the Candlelight Protests."
He added, "They assert that the power of a democratic republic belongs solely to the citizens and rise up fiercely to fight when their power is infringed upon."
Furthermore, Hwang said, "The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic. However, the era of monarchy has not completely ended," and "The 'absolute ruler king' has not been entirely removed from the minds of the people, and Korea is still in the midst of a revolution."
Meanwhile, Yoon Seok-yeol's campaign team denied Hwang's claim that campaign staff instructed citizens to greet Yoon in a phone call with Asia Economy. A campaign official explained, "We reviewed all related videos after hearing that netizens made such claims, but we found no such evidence."
Regarding the situation at the time, the official emphasized, "They say someone shouted 'Greet him' from above, but all campaign staff were positioned below, so the claim itself does not hold." The official added, "Given the circumstances, all campaign staff are careful with every word and action, so how could such a thing be said?"
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