"President, Get a Grip" Voices Grow Louder for Yoo Seung-min, Challenging for Party Leadership as Non-Yoon Faction Representative?

Bitter Criticism of Government and Ruling Party, "The Ones Truly Embarrassed Are the People" Intensifies
Leading Candidate for Next Party Leader, Overwhelming Support from Centrist and Progressive Groups
Leadership Crisis of Yoon's Core Supporters... Will Non-Yoon Forces Unite?

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Yoonjin Kim] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min is making his presence felt by criticizing President Yoon Suk-yeol and the ruling party. Some analysts suggest that Yoo may challenge for party leadership as a representative of the non-Yoon Suk-yeol faction opposing the pro-Yoon Suk-yeol camp. However, the internal view within the party toward Yoo, who is an outsider, is not entirely favorable.

On the 22nd, when controversy arose over President Yoon's use of profanity during an overseas trip, Yoo launched an offensive, saying, "Mr. President, please come to your senses." He listed the president's diplomatic schedule on his Facebook and criticized it as fruitless, stating, "The ones who are truly embarrassed are the people. Is shame really the people's burden?" On the 25th and 26th, he repeatedly urged the government for a swift response to the economic crisis, pointing out, "The president should take the lead in resolving the tangled political situation."

After losing the Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial primary in the recent local elections, Yoo had been laying low but has recently been raising his voice actively on current issues. Through his social media, he pinpointed that "the president's thoughts, words, and attitude are problematic" and directly criticized President Yoon and the party leadership by saying, "Yoon's core aides (Yoon Hae-gwan) should stop acting like gangsters and step down." He has also proposed policy alternatives in areas such as the CHIPS Act alliance, the resumption of the Korea-US currency swap, economy, security, and welfare.

Regarding Yoo's movements, some speculate about his potential bid for party leadership. After the ruling party established a two-top system with Emergency Committee Chairman Jeong Jin-seok and Floor Leader Joo Ho-young, People Power Party leadership candidates have begun serious preparations. In the pro-Yoon camp, lawmakers Kim Ki-hyun, Ahn Cheol-soo, and Yoon Sang-hyun are mentioned, while in the non-Yoon camp, five-term lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae has hinted at running.

Although Yoo has not explicitly declared his candidacy, he is considered a strong contender, performing well in recent opinion polls. In a suitability survey for the next party leader conducted by Nextweek Research on the 20th-21st at the request of KBC Gwangju Broadcasting and UPI News, surveying 1,000 adults nationwide, Yoo ranked first with 23.5%.

Amid expectations that this party convention will unfold as a 'pro-Yoon vs. non-Yoon' battle, Yoo, as the leading figure of the non-Yoon faction, is anticipated to perform well. This is attributed to prolonged conflicts with former leader Lee and rising public backlash against the pro-Yoon camp. A representative example is the narrow victory of five-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young over two-term lawmaker Lee Yong-ho, a Honam native, by 19 votes in the People Power Party floor leader election on the 19th. The election results fueled interpretations of growing dissatisfaction within the party toward the pro-Yoon faction.

On the other hand, since the pro-Yoon faction remains the mainstream within the party, some predict that Yoo's influence as an outsider will be limited. Traditional party supporters are also not favorable toward Yoo. In previous polls, Yoo received support rates in the 30% range among centrist and progressive groups, but only 11.9% among conservatives. Regionally, support was lowest in Daegu-Gyeongbuk and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, known as conservative strongholds, with 14.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

The pro-Yoon camp has shown discomfort toward Yoo, urging him to stop "shooting at" President Yoon. Leading party leadership candidate Kim Ki-hyun counterattacked on the 22nd, calling Yoo's criticism of the president's profanity controversy "just spitting on one's own face." On the 26th, Seong Il-jong, chairman of the People Power Party Policy Committee, responded on KBS Radio that "after clarifying the circumstances, although such opinions were expressed, they could be revised," implying that Yoo spoke without fully understanding the background.

Meanwhile, Yoo will visit Daegu on the 29th to give a special lecture at Kyungpook National University titled "To Change Incompetent Politics." As party leadership candidates continue to visit the conservative stronghold of the Gyeongbuk region to capture party and public sentiment, attention is also focused on Yoo's lecture.