Ex-prosecutor-general to declare presidential bid Tuesday

Former Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl adjusts his mask during an opening ceremony of Namsan Yejang Park in Seoul, June 9. Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

• Published Jun 24, 2021 4:40 PM KST
• Updated Jun 25, 2021 9:16 AM KST

Presidential race expected to heat up following Yoon's declaration

By Jun Ji-hye

Ex-Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl is set to declare his bid for the presidency next Tuesday, threatening to become the leading opposition presidential hopeful against a candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in the election scheduled for March next year.

“I will speak to the people about what I will do from now on,” Yoon was quoted as saying by his vice-spokeswoman Choi Ji-hyun, Thursday.

According to Choi, Yoon will announce his widely anticipated presidential bid at 1 p.m. in an event to be held in Seoul's Yun Bong-gil Memorial Hall, which commemorates a national independence fighter.

Yoon stepped down as prosecutor-general in early March to protest the ruling party's push to create a non-prosecution body, specializing in investigating “serious crimes,” which would take over the investigative powers of the prosecution.

At the time, he had more than four months left in his two-year tenure.

Yoon's move to declare his presidential bid early is being construed as a decision to face head-on some of the rumors surrounding him, which could weaken his position.

Lee Dong-hoon, who had been appointed as Yoon's spokesman, resigned abruptly, June 20, only 10 days after the appointment, citing personal reasons.

This caused rumors that Lee had come into conflict with Yoon, and his resignation may have been related to a so-called “Yoon Seok-youl X-file” that has recently been rattling the political circle in the run-up to next year's presidential election.

Lee Sang-rok, another spokesman for Yoon, denied this, saying, “Lee Dong-hoon's resignation was on health grounds.”

The file is rumored to contain controversial secret documents, one of which was confirmed to have been created by a progressive YouTuber seen by many as a pro-Moon Jae-in government figure, that put forward various allegations about Yoon and his family members.

Last Sunday, Yoon said he was not going to respond to the rumored file, calling it a “negative campaign.”

But two days later, he started a counterattack, apparently mindful of concerns that the file could deal a heavy blow to his presidential bid.

Claiming that the documents in the file could have been a result of possible illegal surveillance of him by government organizations and the ruling party, Yoon said in a statement, Tuesday: “Those who spread false information and carried out illegal surveillance should assume full responsibility.”

Intensifying race

Following Yoon's decision to declare his presidential bid, competition among other hopefuls is expected to intensify.

Yoon, who has maintained first place in public opinion polls, recently saw a slight fall in his popularity following the revelation of the ongoing X-file rumors.

In the latest opinion poll released by Realmeter, Thursday, Yoon garnered support of 32.3 percent, maintaining his lead over Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, who received 22.8 percent.

This was a 2.8 percentage points drop from the same poll conducted two weeks earlier.

“Yoon is now facing the biggest challenge since he stepped down as prosecutor general in March, due to the X-file rumors, the resignation of his spokesman and confusion over whether he will join the main opposition People Power Party,” said Bae Cheol-ho, a Realmeter official.

Meanwhile, Choe Jae-hyeong, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, was ranked sixth, garnering support of 3.6 percent, up 2.1 percentage points.

Choe is expected to step down from his position soon to declare his presidential bid.