Yoon reunites with ex-President Park after 12 days, this time in Daegu

Politics

Published: 07 Nov. 2023, 18:42 Updated: 07 Nov. 2023, 21:00

Yoon reunites with ex-President Park after 12 days, this time in Daegu

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with former President Park Geun-hye at Park's residence in Dalseong County, Daegu, Tuesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol met with former President Park Geun-hye during a visit to Daegu Tuesday afternoon, seen as a part of efforts to appeal to a wider conservative base ahead of the general elections next year.

Yoon held a private hour-long meeting with Park at her residence in Dalseong County and had a "friendly chat," the presidential office said in a statement.

Yoon was quoted as telling Park regarding her late father, "What we learned from looking back on state affairs during the time of President Park Chung Hee is being reflected in the current national policies."

They had a "pleasant and friendly atmosphere" as they held the meeting in the living room, said the office, including light conversation about their health and summit diplomacy activities during Park's president term.

Park expressed interest in hydrogen vehicles, and Yoon explained recent related industry trends. She later showed him around her garden.

The meeting could also have been an opportunity for Yoon to ask the former president for advice as the conservative People Power Party (PPP) faces internal discord ahead of the parliamentary elections in April.

Their reunion comes after just 12 days, as Yoon last met with Park at a memorial ceremony for former President Park Chung Hee on Oct. 26 at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, southern Seoul.

It was the first time that a sitting president attended the ceremony for the late Park.

This marked Park Geun-hye's first time attending the memorial service for her father in 11 years.

Park held a brief impromptu meeting with her supporters in front of her residence later in the afternoon following her meeting with Yoon.

Park was impeached in December 2016 and removed from office in March 2017 over an influence-peddling scandal involving her confidante Choi Soon-sil after massive candlelight vigils calling for her ousting. She was convicted of corruption and abuse of power and sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison. Park spent four years and nine months in incarceration, the longest imprisonment of any former Korean head of state to date.

As a prosecutor, Yoon spearheaded the probe into the corruption scandal in 2016 that directly led to Park's ouster and time in jail.

Park moved to Daegu after being pardoned by former President Moon Jae-in in December 2021.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, walks alongside former President Park Geun-hye as they view her garden at her residence in Dalseong County, Daegu, Tuesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

This was Yoon's first visit to Daegu in seven months and his third trip to the city since taking office. Daegu is a part of the so-called TK region, which also includes the Gyeongsang provinces, considered a traditionally conservative stronghold. Park especially has a solid base in Daegu, her constituency as a former lawmaker.

In April 2022, Yoon as a president-elect visited Park at her residence in Daegu to make amends ahead of his inauguration ceremony in May. Park later attended Yoon's presidential inauguration despite poor health earlier.

The presidential office said, unlike the first visit where Park waited for Yoon inside her home, this time Park greeted him from her lawn.

Earlier on Tuesday, Yoon gave an address at a national convention of the Council for the Better Tomorrow Movement at the Exco convention center in Daegu, attended by some 8,000 people — the largest-ever gathering to date. Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, whose party membership was restored last week, attended the convention and was seated beside Yoon.

During the convention, he encouraged the council to "create an honest and healthy society by banishing injustice and corruption that hinder social integration."

Yoon is the second president to attend the convention for the council, which launched in 1989 to promote democratic awareness, now with some 800,000 members nationwide. Late President Kim Dae-jung last attended a convention in 1999.

Yoon also visited the Chilseong traditional market to meet with local merchants struggling amid the economic downturn, according to the presidential office. He later had lunch with local merchants and Daegu lawmakers, promising government support for small business owners and self-employed people to improve people's livelihood.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, chats with local merchants at Chilseong market in Daegu on Tuesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

During his last visit to Daegu in April, Yoon attended a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of Seomun Market, a major traditional market.

Yoon's PPP has been trying to regroup after its embarrassing defeat last month in the by-election for the Gangseo Office head, seen as reflective of public sentiment in the capital area ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections, which will set the tone for the remainder of the president's five-year term. The liberal Democratic Party (DP) currently holds a majority in the National Assembly.

The PPP appointed naturalized medical doctor Ihn Yo-han as its new innovation committee head last week as a part of reform measures.

Last Friday, Ihn called for senior lawmakers who served for three or more terms, especially in the Gyeongsang region, a conservative stronghold, to either not seek for reelection or opt to run in districts more difficult to secure in the general elections. He urged the same for members close to Yoon seeking to run in the election.

This comes as a string of former presidential officials have declared their intent to run in the general elections in April next year.

There are some 20 to 30 former presidential office staffers and administrative officials preparing to run in the upcoming elections, and more staffers and aides may leave the administration to throw their hats in the ring in coming weeks.

The PPP has been showing a mixed reaction to the number of former presidential office staffers, considered to be of Yoon's faction, running for the general elections.

While party leadership is generally welcoming of all additional talents, others have been showing concerns over the possibility that aides close to Yoon will get preferential treatment and are not reflective of the public's calls for change.

Kim Chong-in, right, a veteran conservative politician and former interim leader of the People Power Party (PPP), greets Ihn Yo-han, chairman of the PPP’s innovation committee, at Kim’s office in Jongno District, central Seoul, Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

On Tuesday, Ihn had a meeting with Kim Chong-in, a veteran conservative politician often described as a kingmaker who had helmed Yoon's election campaign committee, discussing how to bring change to the PPP.

Ihn told reporters that Kim had told him regarding his reform efforts, "The diagnosis was good. But the patient has to take the medicine."

Ihn, in turn, is scheduled to visit Daegu on Wednesday as a part of his efforts to integrate the party. It could be an opportunity for him to meet with Daegu Mayor Hong and former President Park.

As his priority agenda, Ihn got the PPP to grant amnesty for suspended party members such as former chief Lee Jun-seok and Hong last week.

Despite Ihn's outreach to unify the party, the outspoken Lee has been hinting at leaving the PPP to create his own party.

He could possibly join forces with Yoo Seong-min, a moderate former four-term lawmaker who has also been a part of faction in the party critical of Yoon.

Ihn on a radio program Monday expressed he was "disappointed" in Lee for addressing him as "Mr. Linton," referring to him by his American surname, and talking to him in English at an event in Busan, treating him like a foreigner. Ihn is perfectly fluent in Korean.

On Monday, Lee and PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former presidential hopeful, got into a verbal altercation at a restaurant in Yeouido.

As he had lunch in one room, Ahn reportedly criticized Lee for speaking to Ihn in English at the Busan event, comparing it to "hate speech" as it denied the fact that Ihn has become a naturalized Korean.

Lee, who overheard the conversation while dining in the adjacent room, shouted, "Mr. Ahn, let's eat. Please be quiet."

"I didn't say anything wrong," Ahn shot back. "Everyone hates Lee Jun-seok, so is there anyone who can work with him? Look at him yelling."

News of this altercation quickly spread among lawmakers Tuesday. Lee and Ahn have been at odds with each other, with Ahn, a doctor-turned-politician, spearheading a petition last month to kick the young former chairman out of the party for his alleged actions that are harmful to the PPP.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]