Yoon Seok-youl, leading yet vulnerable presidential candidate

Yoon Seok-youl, the leading presidential contender of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, speaks, Sept. 10, during a party event where its presidential hopefuls answered voters' questions. Korea Times file

This article is the third in a series on the major presidential contenders' leadership styles, campaign promises, strengths and weaknesses, as well as career histories ― ED.

By Kang Seung-woo

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl burst onto the political scene as one of the most promising presidential contenders of the conservative camp by riding a wave of sentiment against President Moon Jae-in.

Yoon was the second prosecutor general of the incumbent administration, but his well-publicized tensions with the Moon government and the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which were seeking to weaken the prosecution's authority under the judiciary reform plan, ironically resulted in the 60-year-old running for the presidency on the conservative main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) ticket.

However, despite his high approval ratings among conservatives, Yoon is now facing allegations linked not only to himself but also to his family members, which could thwart his presidential bid. In addition, his frequent slips of the tongue are also making him vulnerable to attacks from rivals.

More than anything else, Yoon has set himself up as the frontrunner for the conservative opposition bloc through his strong leadership, highlighted while he led a series of politically sensitive investigations of key ruling bloc figures targeting corruption allegations.

Last December, Yoon was suspended from duty for two months by former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae on four counts of alleged misconduct, including surveillance of judges in cases involving former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, a close aide to President Moon, and some presidential officials, but he was reinstated after the two-month suspension.

In addition, his strong image came to the fore in 2013 when he was leading an investigation into suspicions that the National Intelligence Service had intervened in the 2012 presidential election in favor of the conservative ruling party's candidate at that time, Park Geun-hye.

He claimed his superiors attempted to intervene in the probe, and following conflicts with his superiors and the government, he was demoted to the head of the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. But Yoon made a comeback in 2016 as a core member of the special prosecutors' team tasked with looking into the corruption and power abuse scandal involving former President Park and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil. Park was impeached and removed from office the following year.

President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl at Cheong Wa Dae in this Nov. 8, 2019 photo. Korea Times file

Upon Moon's inauguration in May 2017, he was appointed as chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and then promoted to prosecutor general in July 2019.

Favorable environment, feeble policy pledges

A favorable environment is being created for the political rookie, amid calls for a change of administration, due to the nation's continually overheated housing market, which some attribute to the Moon administration's real estate policies, as well as frustration over the lack of "fairness" in Korean society in general.

Such calls were reflected in the DPK's defeats in April's mayoral by-elections for the country's two biggest cities: Seoul and Busan.

"The public want strong leadership in critical situations as well as amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Yoon fits the bill," Shin Yul, a political science and diplomacy professor at Myongji University, said in a media interview.

Yoon unveiled his election pledges recently on diplomacy and security issues ― which are the most important yardstick for presidential contenders on the divided Korean Peninsula ― along with his views on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and Seoul's security alliance with the United States.

Yoon said he will demand that the U.S. redeploy its tactical nuclear weapons here and offer a nuclear sharing deal with South Korea if its national security is threatened by Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, among others, although that notion was immediately dismissed by the U.S. State Department. U.S. tactical nuclear weapons were introduced here in the 1950s, but withdrawn in the 1990s.

In addition, he also plans to set up a liaison office involving the two Koreas and the U.S. at the border truce village of Panmunjeom in a bid to run a trilateral dialogue channel on a permanent basis.

Regarding the housing market, Yoon said that he had a plan to provide 2.5 million homes, including 1.3 million in Seoul and its surrounding areas, within the next five years. In addition, he also seeks to ease a range of regulations tightened by the Moon administration's efforts to curb the skyrocketing property prices, which is drawing strong support from the market.

Yoon Seok-youl, left, accompanied by his wife Kim Keon-hee, attends his appointment ceremony as prosecutor general at Cheong Wa Dae in this July 25, 2019 photo. Korea Times file

Image of 'inexperienced' politician

However, there are also lingering challenges that may hold back his presidential ambitions.

Yoon has been accused recently of pushing forward the now-defunct United Future Party (UFP), a predecessor of the PPP, to lodge criminal complaints against several pro-government figures ahead of the general election in April of last year, in what could have been an attempt at influencing the polls. To this end, Yoon allegedly ordered high-ranking prosecutor Son Jun-sung to hand over written criminal complaints to Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-politician who managed the party's election campaign at the time, and was eventually elected as a lawmaker.

In fact, with Yoon embroiled in the allegations against him and his family, Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, the flag bearer of the PPP in the last presidential election, has been emerging as a strong candidate for the conservative opposition bloc, even beating out Yoon in some opinion polls.

In addition, Yoon's mother-in-law was convicted of violating the Medical Service Act as well as of fraud in July, while his wife has been suspected of being involved in a stock manipulation plot.

Along with these family issues, a series of controversial comments have also hinted at his political inexperience.

Earlier, Yoon found himself in hot water over his comments on the government's 52-hour statutory workweek plan after he said, "Workers should be allowed to work up to 120 hours a week and then take a good rest."

He also stirred controversy by saying there was no radioactive contamination from the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, despite clear evidence of harmful radioactive materials at the site.

He was also under fire for his remarks that poor people should be allowed to choose low-quality food, triggering doubts about his abilities to address issues related to income inequality.