Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Bad blood remaining between Moon and main opposition candidate
People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl, center, walks into the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, Seoul, to pay respect to deceased veterans, Monday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
The hostility between President Moon Jae-in and People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl is apparently still evident, with the presidential office showing an awkward response to the candidacy of Yoon, who was Moon's first prosecutor general.
Cheong Wa Dae had, as of Monday, yet to release a direct message from Moon on the selection of Yoon as the PPP's presidential candidate, Friday.
“So far, there is no plan to release a message on Yoon's PPP primary victory,” a presidential official said.
Instead of congratulating him, the office is considering sending flowers to all opposition candidates ― Yoon, minor opposition conservative People's Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and minor opposition progressive Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jeung ― through a presidential secretary.
This is in contrast to when the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) selected its candidate Lee Jae-myung, Oct. 10. At the time, the presidential office released a congratulatory message from Moon just hours after Lee was named following the party primaries.
Following the message, Moon met Lee, Oct. 26, with the meeting widely interpreted as a recognition of Lee as the successor to the Moon administration.
There have been precedents of incumbent presidents congratulating the nomination of the main opposition party's flag bearer.
In 2012, when Moon was nominated as the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party, a DPK predecessor, then-President Lee Myung-bak immediately delivered his congratulations through a presidential spokesperson. In 1997, President Kim Young-sam phoned then-National Congress for New Politics candidate Kim Dae-jung a day after his primary victory and congratulated him.
Cheong Wa Dae explained Moon congratulated the DPK candidate Lee as a party member, but the office's silence on Yoon's candidacy is interpreted as an expression of displeasure.
President Moon Jae-in speaks to then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl at Cheong Wa Dae after appointing him to the top prosecution post in this July 25, 2019, photo. Yoon is now the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party. Yonhap
Yoon was the prosecutor general of the Moon administration until March but joined the main opposition party after locking horns with the President over an investigation into corruption allegations involving Cho Kuk, a former justice minister and close aide to the President.
During a press conference in January, Moon showed his trust in Yoon despite the conflict, saying “he is the prosecutor general of the Moon government” but added “I don't think Yoon is serving his role while thinking of joining politics.”
During his acceptance speech last week, however, Yoon condemned the Moon administration, saying, “The Moon administration will feel the pain of me being nominated as the PPP candidate, because I am a symbol of fairness who crushed the hypocrisy of Cho Kuk.”
Against this backdrop, attention is growing on whether Yoon will meet Moon before the election, which is slated for March 9. Regarding DPK candidate Lee's meeting with Moon, Yoon criticized it claiming the President was “intervening” in the presidential election.
A senior official at Cheong Wa Dae said Moon is open for a meeting with Yoon if the candidate requests one, but chances are slim of that happening, as Yoon said “there is no reason for me to meet Moon” during an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Sunday.
So far, there has been a single precedent of a meeting between a sitting president and the main opposition presidential candidate. In 1997, then-President Kim Young-sam met the four opposition candidates.