"2030 Supporters, Yoon Must Make Direct Efforts to Rally Them"
"Without Hong, 2030 Generation Unlikely to Vote for Lee Jae-myung"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, said about lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo, who refused to join Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential campaign committee, "Having him on the campaign committee is practically meaningless."
In an interview on June 8th with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Lee stated, "Even if Hong joins the campaign committee, the 20s and 30s age group who are currently withholding support for candidate Yoon will not suddenly declare their support," asserting this point.
He added, "Since Hong received significant support from people in their 20s and 30s, some define 'One Team' as his participation in the campaign committee, hoping his actions will translate into support from that demographic," and continued, "(However) the candidate himself must directly realize and adapt to what the 20s and 30s want to gather votes; having a symbolic figure take photos beside the candidate won't make much difference."
He further said, "Although this is based on what I have heard directly or indirectly from Hong, now is a time when rest is needed," and added, "The 20s and 30s support base formed voluntarily because of the pledges Hong made. Hong himself would think that naturally transferring that support through joining the campaign committee is impossible and unnatural."
Earlier, after Hong was eliminated in the People Power Party's presidential primary, party members who identified themselves as being in their 20s and 30s posted withdrawal confirmations on the party's website and internet communities. Some members strongly opposed, saying things like, "I'd rather vote for Lee Jae-myung (the Democratic Party presidential candidate) than Yoon."
Regarding this, when the host asked, "Do you think the youth might shift their support to candidate Lee Jae-myung?" Lee replied, "(The youth) are the biggest victims of Democratic Party policies and are disappointed, so they will not vote for another Democratic candidate at all," adding,
"Cash welfare policies like those of candidate Lee Jae-myung can never be a source of hope and are well understood to place the greatest burden on their generation."
He continued, "That is why, no matter how much candidate Lee talks about free services, he has shown a disastrous approval rating among people in their 20s so far," and said, "The younger generation values fairness and justice highly, and especially recent moral controversies related to candidate Lee will be judged by the youth as far from just."
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