Yoon Seok-youl, South Korea’s former attorney-general, recently announced his candidacy for president. He strongly denounced the Moon Jae-in regime as “unjust” and stressed the need for “regime change.”
South Korea’s general election is about to kick off. On June 29, Yoon formally announced his challenge for the presidency. At a news conference that day, Yoon spent about half his time denouncing the malpractices of the current regime, saying they are too numerous to list them all and stressing the need for regime change.
He criticized the Moon administration’s core policies of “income-led growth,” “real estate policy,” “procuratorial reform,” and “disintegration from nuclear power plants.” He said the government “has disregarded common sense, justice, and the rule of law, crumbling the foundations of the country and plunging its people into frustration and anger.”
At the same time, he promised to “restore crumbling liberal democracy and the rule of law, and create fair values across time and generations.”
On the other hand, Yoon noted that the international community is undergoing a dramatic change, in which core cutting-edge technologies and industrial facilities should only be shared only among countries that respect the values of human rights, the rule of law, and democracy. Diplomacy and security have become inseparable from the economy, domestic issues, and international relations.
“In the international community, South Korea needs to demonstrate clearly its universal values as a civilized nation,” the candidate said, addressing the current administration’s approach to international diplomacy. “It needs to demonstrate exactly what South Korea is, what it originally looks like, and provide predictability to all its enemies and friends, partners and competitors.”
At the press conference, Yoon used the word “regime change” eight times and the word “freedom” 22 times.
He called on all like-minded citizens and forces of all sides to unite and strive for regime change, saying that he is willing to dedicate himself to the people and the country.
Yoon Seok-youl, 61, clashed with Moon’s government over “prosecutorial reform” during his tenure as prosecutor general. In addition, he has been suppressed by the government due to leading politically sensitive investigations into corruption by key figures in the ruling party, making him a strong presidential candidate.
Since stepping down as attorney general in March, Yoon has been at the top of opinion polls of potential presidential candidates.
