News begins. Reporter Ha-rim Kim from the Political Department has arrived. What is the question mark you prepared today?
[Reporter]
“Former presidents warming up, what are the gains and losses in the general election?” no see.
[Anchor]
These days, the external activities and remarks of former presidents are increasing. Would you like to look between the lines?
[Reporter]
Yes. The most notable one is former President Park Geun-hye. After the special pardon in 2021, there were almost no public remarks, and the only outside activities other than hospital treatment and attending President Yoon’s inauguration were visits to Donghwa Temple in Daegu and former President Park Chung-hee’s birthplace in Gumi. However, we had three public events in the month of September. I met with People Power Party CEO Kim Ki-hyun for about 50 minutes, and just before the Chuseok holiday, I visited the Daegu traditional market to shop. The first media interview was also released, in which he apologized to the public for the state affairs incident and criticized the Moon Jae-in administration’s North Korean nuclear policy for being a major concern.
[Anchor]
Former President Lee Myung-bak and former President Moon Jae-in’s public activities have also increased, right?
[Reporter]
Yes. While former President Park is at the level of stretching, the two former presidents appear to have taken a step into real politics. Former President Lee highly praised the Yoon administration’s policy direction in a keynote speech at an event for small and medium-sized businesses held in Jeju last month, and plans to visit the Four Major Rivers weirs in October and hold a calligraphy exhibition in December. After leaving office, he went down to Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do and posted SNSFormer President Moon, who had expressed his position, attended the 5th anniversary event of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration and publicly criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol government’s policy toward North Korea.
Moon Jae-in / Former President (19th of last month)
“When I think about the current collapse of inter-Korean relations, it is sad and extremely confusing.”
[Anchor]
Isn’t the reason the political world is interested in the actions of former presidents because of the general elections that are half a year away?
[Reporter]
Yes. The two points that are most curious are how much influence they have on party nominations and how much influence they have on the actual election. The variable appears to be President Yoon’s approval rating. If President Yoon’s approval rating remains above 40% when nominations by the ruling and opposition parties begin in earnest early next year, the space for former presidents to operate will be narrowed, but in the opposite case, the ruling party will play a significant role in Daegu, Gyeongbuk and Busan, and the opposition party will play a significant role in the metropolitan area and Gyeongnam. The possibility of doing so cannot be ruled out.
[Anchor]
Is that why there are predictions that next year’s general election will be an extension of the last presidential election?
[reporter]
yes. The context can be read in recent remarks by former presidents. Former President Park gave strength to President Yoon in a media interview, saying, “I was relieved that the left-wing regime was not extended and was replaced by a conservative regime,” and former President Lee also met with Rep. Kim Tae-ho last month and said, “I will support the current government’s liberal democracy policy.” “The direction is right, but if we lose the general election, it’s all over,” he said, emphasizing conservative unity. The same goes for former President Moon, who specifically mentioned the general election, asking new floor leader Hong Ik-pyo to “take care of the party and lay the foundation for victory in next year’s general election with united strength메이저놀이터.”
[Anchor]
As the general election gets closer, there will be more movements like this, right? Shall we organize the question marks?
[Reporter]
“Former presidents warming up, what are the gains and losses in the general election?” The exclamation point will be “Middle expansion instead of unity!” Since all three former presidents have a steady base of supporters, this will help rally the camp. However, the winner or loser of the general election will be decided by the moderates who “dislike both ruling and opposition parties” and the independents, right? Both the ruling and opposition parties should carefully consider the public sentiment during Chuseok.
[Anchor]
Reporter Kim, you heard me well.