Yoon Hee-seok "Shin Pyung's 'General Election Defeat Rumor,' Seems to Have Heard Stories Circulating in the Market"

"The situation in the metropolitan area is not seen as optimistic"
"Non-Yoon faction members are also our party members"

Shin Pyeong, a lawyer known as "President Yoon Suk-yeol's mentor," recently raised the "new party formation theory" for President Yoon based on a ruling party internal "general election defeat" poll, but later admitted it was not true and apologized. Meanwhile, Yoon Hee-seok, spokesperson for the People Power Party, said, "It seems like he heard rumors circulating in the market," denying the claim as groundless.

On the 8th, spokesperson Yoon said on YTN's "News King with Park Ji-hoon," "Conducting such a survey would cost an enormous amount. So it’s impossible not to know, but since I have not heard anything so far, I think he probably heard a combination of various rumors circulating in the market," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, lawyer Shin had stated on his social media (SNS) that a ruling party internal poll showed a defeat in the metropolitan area, but apologized after the ruling party announced that no such poll had been conducted.

However, there is a perception within the party that the metropolitan area is not optimistic. Spokesperson Yoon said, "We absolutely do not see the current metropolitan area situation as optimistic," adding, "The metropolitan public sentiment is very sensitive to any political or policy situations and has the largest population, so even if we currently judge the situation to be okay, it is not reasonable to predict the outcome of the general election about eight months away."

Regarding the presidential approval rating in the 30% range, he said, "We are naturally concerned about the president’s approval rating being around 30%, as reported by the media," adding, "For the general election, we need to field well-prepared candidates in all 253 constituencies nationwide, and including proportional representation, a very large number of personnel is required," expressing concern about a shortage of talent.

Within the party, voices are emerging that non-Yoon factions should not be excluded from nominations due to the talent shortage. In response, spokesperson Yoon said, "Those called non-Yoon factions are also our party members," adding, "Currently, there are many conflicts within the party due to remarks from former leader Lee Jun-seok and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, and some people are very interested in how things will turn out, but many believe that maintaining a 'unified front' is the right course, so that issue will be resolved well."