Yoon Hee-seok, People Power Party Special Advisor: "Yoon, 'What's wrong with asking if Jo Guk will become president?'"

Fortune Teller Claims "People Asked If Yoon Seok-yeol or Cho Kuk Will Become President"
Yoon's Side Says "Ordinary People Can Ask... Trying to Frame as Shamanism"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is announcing his political pledges at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] A famous fortune teller claimed that while talking on the phone with Kim Geon-hee, the spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, he overheard Yoon asking, "Ask if Cho Kuk will become president," causing a stir in political circles. In response, Yoon Hee-seok, the senior public relations spokesperson for the People Power Party's election campaign headquarters, rebutted, "Even if he asked whether Cho Kuk would become president at that time, what problem would there be?"

According to a JTBC report on the 26th, fortune teller Seo Mo claimed that he first met Kim in early 2019 while teaching the I Ching in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, and at Kim's request, met Yoon, who was then the Seoul Central District Prosecutor General, on February 17 of the same year.

Seo believed that Yoon already had presidential ambitions when he was Prosecutor General. He said, "(After the meeting, Kim called me, and) I heard a voice beside her saying, 'So, will Cho Kuk become president?' He (the husband) told her to ask that."

Regarding this, Yoon Hee-seok, senior public relations spokesperson for the People Power Party's campaign headquarters, said in an interview with YTN's 'News Evening' on the evening of the 26th, "She said that while talking with Representative Kim Geon-hee, she heard someone presumed to be Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol behind her saying, 'Ask if Cho Kuk will become president.' This is just hearsay, so its credibility is doubtful," implying skepticism.

Yoon also speculated, "Even if someone asked whether former Senior Secretary Cho Kuk would become president at that time, what problem would that cause? It sounds like a question intended to frame it as something related to shamanism."

Furthermore, Yoon emphasized that even if Yoon Seok-yeol actually asked such a question, there would be no issue. He said, "Ordinary people might also be curious and ask, for example, 'Who will win this presidential election? Who will become president? Who did you ask? Who is it?' It is natural to ask such questions with interest."

Meanwhile, the People Power Party's campaign headquarters issued an official statement regarding this, saying, "Candidate Yoon has never had conversations about or asked about fortune-telling related to former Minister Cho, nor has he met the person mentioned in the report in recent years," and rebutted, "The shamanism frame claimed by the Democratic Party of Korea is false and groundless."