Yoo Si-min: "Lee is clever to step back on gender issues... Yoon's 'abolish Ministry of Gender Equality,' a provocation only possible as second place"

Attitudes Toward Gender Issues: Yoon's High Risk High Return vs Lee's Low Risk Low Return
"Yoon Seok-yeol Admitted Being Second"
"Lower Faction Unity Compared to Past Presidential Election"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 11th, Yoo Si-min, former director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, commented on Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate who mentioned the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, saying, "Young men may show interest, but gender issues operate under the law of action and reaction," and evaluated, "It is close to an initial form pursuing very high risk and high return."

That morning, former director Yoo appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "This comes out because he is the second-place candidate."

Yoo said, "After Lee Jun-seok returned, I suspect that young right-wing youths are the ones crafting messages or promotions for Yoon's campaign," and pointed out, "The seven-character SNS pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, as well as some strange photos of grocery shopping, are a kind of 'Ilbe play'."

He continued, "If you turn a wine glass to the right, the wine turns to the left," and emphasized, "Lee seems to believe that posting on SNS that 'it took two days' will be effective and increase approval ratings, but Lee Jae-myung's side is also watching for the counter-reaction."

Regarding Yoon's strategy, he said, "Looking at the current difference in approval ratings, it seems likely that Yoon's side will use more provocative and risky but potentially high-yield promotional strategies," adding, "It means they have accepted being second place."

On the other hand, about candidate Lee, he evaluated, "Low risk, low return; even if the yield is low, he does not use strategies that excessively increase risk." He also said that Lee's seemingly retreating attitude on gender issues means "Lee has lost."

Meanwhile, on how this presidential election differs from past ones, former director Yoo judged that 'camp cohesion' is weakening.

Yoo said, "Camp cohesion feels weaker than in past elections, so with nearly two months left, it is very difficult to predict what changes or events might occur."

He analyzed, "Among traditional Democratic Party supporters, especially female voters in their 20s and 30s and middle-aged voters, many have not yet come around because Lee's leadership style feels unfamiliar to those who liked Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, or Moon Jae-in."

He added, "There is a considerable proportion who say regime change is necessary and support Lee, but among those who say regime continuation is necessary, there are still groups who do not support Lee," and said, "Compared to traditional elections, full consolidation has not yet occurred." When asked if women are a representative group in this regard, he replied, "Especially so."

He also viewed the opposition camp's cohesion as weak but emphasized that the problem is more about previously cohesive groups dispersing.

Yoo explained, "Yoon's side maximally consolidated at the end of the primary but then dispersed, with some moving to candidate Ahn Cheol-soo." He pointed out, "Unless someone has a clear plan to gather energy and act, approval ratings tend to scatter. Looking at why it scattered, it is because Yoon's side did nothing. They only did one or two things a day," and added, "Even internally, they should do something to maintain cohesion, but with little effort, it disperses as if physical laws are at work," and further said, "The dispersed particles tend to gather around Ahn Cheol-soo, who has a gravitational field."