Yoon becomes presidential nominee of People Power Party

As former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl has officially become the People Power Party’s presidential nominee on Friday, his relations with South Korean President Moon Jae-in are garnering attention. Yoon who was appointed as the head of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office with the launch of the Moon administration and consecutively named as a Prosecutor General by President Moon will now spearhead the potential change of government against the current administration. If a meeting between President Moon and Yoon is held, it will be their first in two years and four months.

President Moon chose the new presidential nominee who at the time was serving as a prosecutor at the Daejeon High Prosecutors’ Office to lead the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in May 2017. He led investigations regarding former President Park Geun-hye who was imprisoned, as well as the imprisonment of former President Lee Myung-bak and former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, in the vanguard of the ‘cleaning up of deep-rooted evils.’ President Moon named Yoon as prosecutor general in June 2019.

However, as Yoon began the investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, his relations with the ruling party started to sour. With former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae invoking the command of the investigation against Yoon and referring him to the disciplinary committee, an unprecedented conflict followed. While President Moon drew a line by saying that Yoon was his administration’s prosecutor general until the beginning of this year amid the tension between Choo and Yoon, Yoon’s presidential nomination became a reality in 10 months.

Cheong Wa Dae said a meeting between the president and of the opposition’s nominee might be considered upon the request of the nominee after the president’s meeting with the nominee of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jae-myung, on October 26. A ruling party source said that a deep conversation wouldn’t be had even if a meeting is held.


Hye-Ryung Choi herstory@donga.com