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| President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left, shakes hands with Yoo Young-ha, a lawyer and close aide of former President Park Geun-hye, during the former's visit to Park's residence in Dalseong County, Daegu, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps |
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo wary of rise of Yoo Young-ha, who is backed by ex-President Park Geun-hye
By Nam Hyun-woo
With 50 days to go until the June 1 local elections, the race to select the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate to run in the Daegu mayoral election has been heating up, following President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the city to meet ex-President Park Geun-hye, who has found a new home in the conservative stronghold.
Currently, a two-way race is underway between senior lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo and Yoo Young-ha, Park's lawyer and aide, whom the latter has endorsed.
It remains to be seen whether Yoon's visit with Park will affect public opinion ahead of the mayoral election.
Hong, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2017 presidential election, had initially been considered as a surefire winner in the mayoral race. However, Yoo, who had been the legal representative and close aide of former President Park, has been on the rise after Park released a video on his YouTube channel publicly endorsing him as the PPP's candidate. Park still enjoys a wide range of hometown support in Daegu.
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| Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the main opposition People Power Party answers reporters' questions at the National Assembly on Yeouido in Seoul, April 8. Joint Press Corps |
According to a survey by Media Real Research Korea released on Sunday, Hong led Daegu mayor hopefuls with a 31.9 percent support rate, followed by Yoo with 21.7 percent and Kim Jae-won with 15.1 percent. The three are members of the PPP. The liberal Democratic Party of Korea contender, Hong Eui-rak, garnered 14.2 percent.
Yoo gained public attention originally as a legal adviser to Park. When Park stood trial for a corruption scandal that ended her presidency in 2017, Yoo was appointed as her legal representative, and he continued serving as her spokesperson during her prison term.
Yoo announced his bid to run for Daegu mayor on April 1, and Park endorsed him in a video clip, calling him a "trustworthy" person who has been by her side for the last five years, during which she was imprisoned on a 22-year sentence for corruption.
Yoo's rise comes as a tough challenge for Hong. While Yoo is enjoying a positive influence from Yoon, Hong is still at odds with the president-elect after the PPP's tense presidential primary last year.
Yoon visited Park on Tuesday and apologized to Park for "what happened in the past." He had been in charge of the special prosecution's investigation of Park in 2016 and became the prosecutor-general in 2019 based largely on his role in the investigation.
"Yoon told Park that he feels ashamed (about the past investigation) and that he has always been sorry about it," Yoo told reporters. He also noted that Park asked Yoon to pay greater attention to the development of Daegu, to which the president-elect replied positively.
Yoon's apology to Park was credited to Yoo, because he played a pivotal role in both arranging the meeting and attending it as Park's aide.
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| Yoo Young-ha, a preliminary candidate for Daegu mayor, greets attendees during the launching ceremony for his campaign in Daegu's Dalseo District, Monday. Yonhap |
Yoon's influence is expected could give Yoo, because public expectations of the incoming president have in the past been reflected in surveys for other local election contenders.
In an interview with News1, Monday, Hong said he decided to run for Daegu mayor because he thought "getting out of central government politics would be a good ending to his competition with President-elect Yoon."
In a survey by Mono Research, Kim Eun-hye, a former news anchor-turned-PPP lawmaker and Yoon's former spokesperson, was the leading conservative contender for Gyeonggi governor with a 17.6 percent support rate, outpacing former presidential candidate Yoo Seong-min with 14.6 percent. Kim joined the gubernatorial race belatedly, but took the lead quickly backed by her improved presence as Yoon's former spokesperson.
The Media Real Research Korea poll was requested by the Journalists Association of Korea's Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province chapter and surveyed 1,000 adults in Daegu from April 4 to 7. The Mono Research poll was requested by Kyeongin Ilbo newspaper and surveyed 1,007 adults on April 8 and 9. Further details of the surveys are available at the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.
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