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Favorability for prosecutor general as presidential candidate surpasses 25%

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By Kim Rahn
  • Published KST
  • Updated KST

By Kim Rahn

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl / Yonhap

Public approval for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl as a potential presidential candidate topped opinion polls, with his support rate surpassing 25 percent for the first time, Wednesday.

The survey results were announced a day before the justice ministry is scheduled to hold a disciplinary committee meeting on Yoon's alleged misconduct upon the request of Minister Choo Mi-ae who has been in a power struggle with the top prosecutor over prosecutorial reform.

According to a survey by Realmeter, 25.8 percent of 1,000 adults supported Yoon as a prospective presidential candidate. He was followed by Rep. Lee Nak-yon and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, both members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who each gained 20.2 percent.

Another survey by Hangil Research of 1,002 adults also showed 28.2 percent of the respondents favored Yoon, followed by the Gyeonggi governor at 21.3 percent and the DPK chairman at 18 percent.

The survey also showed 54 percent of respondents were against Choo's plan to discipline Yoon, while 37.6 percent expressed support for it.

Late last month, Choo ordered the suspension of Yoon from duty convened a disciplinary committee to sanction him for his alleged illegal amassing of information on judges involved in controversial cases and interference in investigations into Yoon's aides and family members. But a court accepted Yoon's request, Dec. 1, to halt the order until a ruling was made in a separate suit he filed to void the order. Separately from the court decision, an inspection committee under the ministry also said Choo's order had grave procedural flaws.

Despite the decisions by the court and the inspection committee, the ministry will hold a disciplinary committee meeting for him, Thursday.

Yoon also asked the Constitutional Court to review a clause of the law for the disciplinary committee, which allows the justice minister to select almost all of its members. He claimed the committee is unlikely to review his case fairly and will probably defer to Choo's opinion.