"26 Former Democratic Party Members Declare Support for Yoon, Vowing to Absolutely Prevent Lee Jae-myung from Becoming President"

Politicians Active in the Progressive Camp Say "Extending the Regime Is a Sin of the Times"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Twenty-six pro-government politicians, including former Democratic Party lawmakers Hong Ki-hoon, Yoo Jae-gyu, and Kim Sung-ho, declared their support for Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, on the 27th, stating that "extending the current administration is a sin of the era."

Former lawmaker Hong and others held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Center on the same day, saying, "We have long been politically active in what is called the progressive camp, including the Democratic Party, the People’s Party, and the Democratic Peace Party. We shared the vision of President Kim Dae-jung’s inter-Korean exchange and cooperation and East-West harmony policies, as well as President Roh Moo-hyun’s anti-authoritarianism and local decentralization politics. Today, we want to join the recruitment line to help make candidate Yoon Seok-yeol the president."

They stated, "The Moon Jae-in administration, which claimed to be a democratic government, has impoverished the lives of the people through incompetence, hypocrisy, polarization, inter-Korean issues, economic crises, and youth unemployment, turning into a hypocritical double standard regime. We are ashamed to have been with such forces even for a moment, as they have ruined the country terribly. We must absolutely prevent Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, from becoming president."

They continued, "The spirit of the times now is undoubtedly regime change. We strongly reject the extension of the administration that divides by region, class, and ideology. We pledge to work together with candidate Yoon to create a just and fair society. As recruited personnel, we will do our best to assist the party and candidate Yoon to achieve victory in the 20th presidential election."

The Democratic Party politicians who declared support for candidate Yoon on this day are expected to work in the External Cooperation Headquarters of the Regime Change Accompanying Committee directly under candidate Yoon, headed by People Power Party lawmaker Lee Yong-ho. Lee, originally from the Millennium Democratic Party and the People’s Party, ran as an independent in the 21st general election and was elected, then joined the People Power Party in December last year.