Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Politician-turned-star writer again declines to work for Cheong Wa Dae
Rhyu Si-min, center, speaks with Jung Tae-ho, left, the senior secretary for job creation of the presidential office during Rhyu's Youtube talk show “Alileo” on Jan. 19. / Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Rhyu Si-min, a future presidential hopeful in the ruling camp, stressed again he will not work for the presidential office amid speculation about a 2022 presidential bid.
Rhyu, the chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, said Saturday during his newly launched Youtube talk show he would “never go to Cheong Wa Dae” because he has “bad teeth.”
His response came after Jung Tae-ho, the senior secretary for job creation at the presidential office, complained that Cheong Wa Dae had a poor work environment claiming people there lost their teeth because they worked so hard. Jung was invited there to promote the government's job creation performance.
The politician-turned-writer has been considered a leading prospective presidential candidate along with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon in the ruling party, but does not want to be listed in polls, claiming he has retired from politics.
Recently, he asked the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission to take his name off future surveys for prospective presidential candidates but it didn't do so.
In a previous episode of his talk show, Rhyu said, “I don't want to run for election.” However, his announcement that he would not run went viral and drew people's attention over whether he would run or not.
Critics say that his public appearances on various media outlets such as TV and Youtube are largely aimed at gaining popularity before running for president as it is key to be seen by the public.
Some say his moves are aimed to position him as a supporter of the Moon Jae-in administration, which is being criticized for the sluggish economy, as he invites current politicians working for Moon onto his show to promote their policies. They add he may later look for a chance to get a government post near the end of Moon's presidency.
Analysts say, as a politician with presidential ambition, now is a bit early to promote himself as it gives the public more time to examine him. Many former presidents generally started their campaigns about one year before the election.
Some analysts say his pledge not to enter politics is intended to make himself more popular.
Yoon Tae-gon, an analyst of The Moa, a political think tank, said, “A figure will have more scarcity value like Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo who said in the past they would not to take part in politics.”
“Every politician's goal is to become president. He may position himself as a supporter now and look for an opportunity to run later as Lee Nak-yon is doing,” a political analyst said.