Voters sympathize with Yoo Seong-min
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Yoo Dam, the daughter of Yoo Seong-min, presidential candidate of the minor conservative Bareun Party, campaigns for her father in Busan, Wednesday. A banner next to her reads “Save My Father.” / Yonhap
By Choi Ha-young
Yoo Seong-min
Donations and messages of encouragement and sympathy are pouring in for Bareun Party presidential candidate Rep. Yoo Seong-min after 12 of the party’s 32 lawmakers quit, Tuesday, in an attempt to rejoin the Liberty Korea Party (LKP).
The Bareun Party broke away from the LKP in January at the height of a political scandal involving then-President Park Geun-hye.
The lawmakers’ decision to abandon Yoo and rejoin the former ruling party was largely anticipated to boost the chances of its candidate Hong Joon-pyo. However, the incident ironically triggered sympathy for Yoo, and this is emerging as one of the biggest variables in the presidential race with the election only one week away.
Showing an upright and determined will to establish clean and caring conservatives, Rep. Yoo vowed to finish the race although the absence of the 12 lawmakers was “heartbreaking.”
Even before their press conference, the party’s lawmakers threatened Yoo’s candidacy, pressing him to join hands with Hong to stand against Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea.
However, Yoo took a firm stand vowing to finish the presidential race, dismissing the calls to compromise with scandal-hit politicians.
“I founded the Bareun Party to make our community caring and just,” he said during a televised debated, Tuesday night. “I knew it would be difficult, but I still wish to establish a conservative party that can make our supporters feel proud.”
His comments moved not only voters but also rival contenders. Rep. Sim Sang-jung of the progressive Justice Party offered Yoo consolation. “I felt really upset to see those abandoning their candidate. Even though it is heartbreaking, cheer up,” she said.
On Wednesday, the party headquarters in Yeouido was bustling with incoming phone calls of support for candidate. As of Wednesday 2 p.m., 1,500 people newly joined the party, over 100 times more than the daily average since the party was formed, and it collected 130 million won ($ 114,940) in donations.
“Citizens have held up this party on the verge of collapse. Thank you for encouraging Yoo,” Rep. Kim Se-yeon told reporters, Wednesday, expressing his gratitude with a deep bow.
The last opinion survey conducted from Monday to Tuesday showed Yoo’s support at 4.9 percent, up 1.7 percentage points compared to mid-April.
In sharp contrast, the LKP’s hostility is bewildering those who betrayed their candidate. They are up in the air, facing strong resistance from pro-Park lawmakers in the former ruling party.
“If they rejoin the LKP, I will depart,” four-term LKP lawmaker Han Sun-kyo said. The former president’s key associate, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the LKP even blasted its candidate Hong, saying he “coaxed” some Bareun lawmakers in their “collusion.”
Because of the intra-party friction, the defectors may not be able to rejoin the LKP. Further, branded as “betrayers” by the public, they may face a backlash in being reelected.
“Due to the complicated process and holidays before the presidential election, it will take time to review their applications to rejoin the LKP,” Rep. Lee Cheol-woo said in a radio interview, Wednesday.
Analysts expected the Bareun Party and Yoo will pave their way as an opposition party as the May 9 election, where the Democratic Party of Korea is likely to clinch the presidency.
“During the presidential election, Hong outpaced Yoo by rallying conservatives through his rough words. However, once the competition comes to an end, the ideological duel will be dissolved, and Yoo is likely to shine in well-versed labor and welfare policies,” political pundit Choi Young-il said.
“He successfully consolidated himself as a reformist conservative politician, regardless of the result of the election,” he added.
The lawmakers who decided to stay in the minor conservative party said they are bracing up its policy lines to serve as a competitive opposition group.
“When the minor liberal People’s Party is realigned after May 9, some of them may join the Bareun Party which touts a third way. The centrist way is a global trend, like Emmanuel Macron in France and Justin Trudeau in Canada,” Choi added.