Yoon Suk Yeol's ex-lawyers drop ‘Yoon Again' political party idea amid backlash
Two lawyers who represented former President Yoon Suk Yeol in his impeachment trial abruptly canceled a press conference Thursday, just hours after announcing plans to launch a new political party under the slogan 'Yoon Again,' named after the disgraced ex-president.
Attorneys Kim Gye-ri and Bae Ui-cheol — who had served on Yoon's impeachment defense team — initially notified the press that they would hold a press briefing Friday in Yeouido, Seoul, to introduce the 'Yoon Again' political party.
The plan was announced in a group chatroom on KakaoTalk that Bae had created and used to invite nearly 600 journalists. In his message, Bae wrote, 'The five attorneys from the former president's legal team will hold a press conference related to a new party tomorrow.'
However, the chatroom soon drew criticism from reporters who questioned Bae's acquisition and use of their private contact information.
Following the backlash, Bae apologized and instead opened a new public-access chatroom. That chatroom, however, was closed within four hours, after it was flooded with images and messages from Yoon's supporters, effectively derailing communication.
Before closing the chatroom, Kim and Bae issued a joint statement saying they had decided to postpone the event, citing concerns that the initiative might lead to misunderstandings about the impeached former president's intentions.
'In the ongoing context of a potential early presidential election, officially launching a party may spark speculation that the president is trying to wield influence or pursue political ambitions — which is not what we intended,' they said.
They also noted that Yoon had personally asked them to refrain from holding the press event, reportedly saying, 'Now is the time to unite our strength.'
Explaining the motivation behind the proposed party, the two said it was aimed at representing the voices of young conservatives and pro-freedom voters whom the ruling People Power Party 'can no longer contain.'
Regarding Yoon's involvement, Seok Dong-hyun, another attorney and former member of his legal team, dismissed the claims, stressing that the former president had no role in the initiative.
'He is not in any way participating in or connected to the party's formation,' Seok said, adding that 'legal representation and political activity should be kept entirely separate.'
The People Power Party, meanwhile, distanced itself from the move. Jang Ye-chan, a former senior party official and prominent Yoon loyalist, criticized the effort in a Facebook post.
'Creating a new party is a strategic blunder that harms not only the conservative bloc but also former President Yoon himself,' Jang wrote. 'I hope this is not just a political stunt to sell 'Yoon's intentions' using naive young people for someone else's political gain.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
28 minutes ago
- Korea Herald
Is People Power Party headed for dissolution?
Expert says dissolving party 'would be difficult,' suggests strong reform, rebranding Voices either calling for or expressing concerns over the dissolution of the main conservative People Power Party have grown in recent days. This comes amid a widening rift within the party over the defeat in the June 3 presidential election, coupled with looming threats of being subjected to special counsel investigations targeting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on multiple charges connected to his failed martial law bid. But an expert expressed skepticism over the scenario of a dissolution, saying such cases have been rare. The liberal and ruling Democratic Party of Korea's Rep. Park Hong-geun on Wednesday floated the idea of swiftly passing a bill that he drafted in March that would dissolve the 'party of a president' convicted of impeachment or treason. In March, Park, along with several other Democratic Party lawmakers, drafted a bill to amend the Political Parties Act and allow the Ministry of Justice to review and file a dissolution of the party under such circumstances with the Constitutional Court, without delay. Under the current law, the Constitutional Court alone has the power to dissolve political parties. 'At the time when the bill was drafted, I wasn't focused on (pushing for) the passage of the legislation because I had reasonable expectations that the People Power Party would reflect upon their actions and reform once former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office and the party loses the early election,' Park wrote in a Facebook post. 'With the People Power Party refusing to look back or reform until the end, shouldn't the National Assembly pass the amendment to the Political Parties Act and (the main People Power Party) be dissolved in accordance with the request of (the people) and a legal process?' Park denounced snowballing conflicts within the main conservative party. Interim leader Kim Yong-tae, has called for reform, including changing the months-old party line of voting against Yoon's impeachment motion. The majority of the People Power Party lawmakers boycotted the plenary vote on the party line. Supporters of Yoon within the conservative party, meanwhile, have called for party leadership, including Kim, to step down and take responsibility for the election loss. On the other side of the political sphere, former Daegu Mayor and heavyweight conservative politician Hong Joon-pyo has warned the People Power Party 'to brace for' President Lee Jae-myung's apparent plans to dissolve the party. 'After the Lee Jae-myung administration wraps up the special counsel investigations (against Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee) they are expected to launch a process to dissolve the party, so brace for (a situation) where every man will become himself,' Hong wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. One of the three special counsel probe bills promulgated by Lee on Tuesday is to look into allegations that the People Power Party leadership at the time stood in the way of the Assembly's move to pass a motion to lift Yoon's martial law bid early in the morning of Dec. 4, 2024. Observers have expressed concerns this could serve as grounds for the Constitutional Court to approve the dissolution of the party. However, Park Sang-byeong, a political commentator and professor at Inha University, pointed out that the dissolution of a political party is a process that is 'more complicated than it seems on the surface' and that the court would find the leadership's alleged involvement to be an 'insufficient' argument. "There is expected to be reform or a rebranding of the party, but it would be difficult and insufficient for the Constitutional Court to dissolve the People Power Party on the current reasons cited by the ruling party," the expert said via phone. "A strong reform and rebranding would be a plausible solution for the People Power Party." mkjung@
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
Fansite of Kim Keon Hee takes down photo of ex-first couple
Operators of website vows to be reborn as 'community for the pan-conservative bloc' A former online fan base of ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee has taken down the couple's photo from its main page, just as the special probe the couple was approved Tuesday. "In order to minimize the momentum lost after President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment and to contribute to the victory in the upcoming (People Power Party) conference and the local elections (in 2026), we are expanding from the fan website of president and first lady to a community for the pan-conservative bloc," the operators of the Naver Cafe page GeonSarang (Queen Gunhee) posted. They invited cafe members to suggest a new name for the site. The photo change has garnered mixed reactions from cafe members, as some protested the move as cowardice in light of the liberals taking power. The website, operational since Dec. 19 of 2021, was one of the largest devoted to the former first couple, with 81,238 members. Most of its sections are inaccessible to non-members, although one is titled "Shall be bash on the Democratic Party?" referring to the liberal party of President Lee. Newly elected President Lee, the biggest political rival of his conservative predecessor, butted heads with Yoon on a number of occasions during the previous administration, particularly with his party seeking for passage of special probe bills against Kim. It was alleged that Yoon had ordered Lee's arrest during his short-lived martial law imposition in December. As one of the first moves as the president, Lee is pushing for the passage of bills that would authorize special counsels on numerous allegations against Yoon and his wife. This includes the matters related to the aforementioned botched martial law bid by Yoon. Kim faces corruption allegations, including stock price manipulation, unlawfully accepting a luxury bag and interfering with the election nomination process.
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Korea Herald
KITA steps up EU outreach, calls for regulatory easing
Yoon Jin-sik, chair of the Korea International Trade Association, stepped up trade outreach activities with key European Union officials, conveying the challenges Korean companies face due to trade and regulatory hurdles. During Yoon's visit to Brussels from Friday to Tuesday, he held meetings with several senior officials at the European Parliament and the European Commission, including Cesar Luena, chair of the delegations for relations with the Korean Peninsula, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne of committee on international trade, Dan Barna of the committee on foreign affairs and Maria Martin-Prat, deputy director general of the directorate general for trade at the European Commission. Yoon expressed concerns over the EU's moves to tighten internal market protections in response to recent US tariff policies, urging that Korean companies, which are key contributors to core EU industries, receive equal treatment as EU-based firms, according to KITA. He also delivered a position paper to the European Commission authorities, pointing out difficulties Korean companies face under the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, despite the expectation that the second Ursula von der Leyen administration may ease trade-related regulations. Yoon pointed out difficulties with carbon emissions verification and requested the expansion of authorized verifiers, as well as the recognition of carbon emissions verification exports issued by Korean institutions. Under the CBAM, the EU's carbon tax on imported goods, companies importing carbon-intensive products into the EU have to purchase and submit certificates starting in 2026. Under this rule, companies have to receive verification by an external body on their emissions data. KITA's position paper emphasized that many Korean firms are expressing difficulties due to a limited number of verification bodies and excessively high costs. Some EU-based agencies have demanded tens of millions of won from Korean firms for emissions verification. In response, Martin-Prat said the EU would pay more attention to reducing regulatory and nontariff barriers for Korean companies operating in the region, according to KITA. KITA also organized the first-ever EU-Korea Networking Day, co-hosted with the Korean Embassy in Belgium and the EU on Tuesday. The event drew over 150 attendees, including EU policymakers and Korean business leaders, to discuss economic cooperation. 'With the global trade environment facing upheaval, no country or economic zone can respond to these challenges alone,' Yoon was quoted as saying. 'As cooperation between like-minded allies, such as Korea and the EU, becomes even more important, we will actively pursue trade support activities in Europe.'
