Dark horse Cho Kuk calls for talks with Yoon as president mulls next move

Cho Kuk, chief of the Rebuilding Korea Party that emerged as the third largest in Wednesday's election, called for a meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is processing the outcome and way forward for his office.

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, center, head of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, which emerged as the third largest political party in the April 10 general election, pays a visit to the Seoul National Cemetery in southern Seoul flanked by new lawmakers on Friday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk proposed any sort of talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday, after emerging from Wednesday's general election as the leader of the country's third largest political party.

Cho's minor liberal Rebuilding Korea Party secured 12 proportional representation seats in the 300-member National Assembly, trailing behind the majority-holding liberal Democratic Party (DP), who won in a landslide in the latest parliamentary elections, and the conservative People Power Party (PPP).

"As the leader of the third largest party in the parliament, I hope to meet President Yoon Suk Yeol anytime, in any format," Cho said through a post on Facebook Sunday morning.

The DP secured 175 seats, including 161 directly-elected spots as well as 14 proportional representation seats claimed by its satellite Democratic United Party, while the PPP and its satellite People Future Party scraped together 108 seats, including 18 proportional representation spots. But Cho's new party, founded in early March, emerged as the true dark horse victor, trumping other small splinter parties led by former DP and PPP leaders and even those with longer-standing roots like the minor progressive Justice Party, which won no seats.

The former law professor at Seoul National University served as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs during the preceding liberal Moon Jae-in administration from 2017 to 2019.

Cho, who spearheaded prosecutorial reforms while serving only a month as the previous administration's justice minister in September 2019, has been an antithesis of sorts of Yoon, who was Moon's former prosecutor general and opposed the move to strip the prosecution of its investigative powers.

In Sunday's Facebook post, Cho said that he wants to convey a message "politely and firmly at a public meeting" with Yoon, adding that he "looks forward" to a response from the Yongsan presidential office to this request.

"President Yoon did not meet with DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung because he had a goal of arresting him before the general election," he wrote, noting that Yoon viewed Lee "as a 'suspect' rather than a 'partner in state affairs.'"

Cho noted that the president "must have believed that if he used the prosecution to catch his political opponents, he would easily win the general election and re-establish power," adding that it was a "petty notion."

He continued, "But President Yoon's goal was thwarted, and the PPP suffered a crushing defeat in the general election."

Cho stepped down from his monthlong stint as justice minister in mid-October of 2019 amid controversy over allegations that he and his wife, Chung Kyung-sim, a former professor at Dongyang University, abused their influence in academia to give their son and daughter an unfair advantage in undergraduate and graduate medical school admissions.

In February, the Seoul High Court upheld a two-year prison sentence handed down to Cho on charges of academic fraud involving his children and using his power as a presidential aide to interfere in a corruption case involving a former Busan vice mayor, Yoo Jae-soo.

Cho is considered a key architect of the Moon government's prosecution reform, aimed at reducing prosecutors' investigative power and empowering police. Such reform measures were a catalyst behind Yoon's resignation as Moon's prosecutor general in 2021 and enter politics.

In the immediate days following the PPP's embarrassing defeat in the April 10 general election, the president from carrying out any official public activities, though his office said Thursday that he "humbly accepted" the election results. Yoon presided over an unannounced security meeting on the Middle East situation Sunday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol presides over an emergency meeting at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on the impact of heightened tensions in the Middle East on security and economic affairs following Iran's recent strikes against Israel. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

In coming to terms with election and its aftermath, the president has been mulling his next steps, such as what sort of public message to issue as well as who to appoint as his next prime minister and chief of staff.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, chief of staff Lee Kwan-seop and other presidential aides tendered their resignations to take responsibly for the disappointing election results, as did PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon, Yoon's former justice minister and one of his closest confidants.

Despite reports that the president could decide on a replacement as early as Sunday, officials from his office indicated that he would need more time to come up with a shortlist of candidates for prime minister and chief of staff and review them properly.

Won Hee-ryong, Yoon's former land minister, is among several names being floated as a possible next chief of staff.

A former Jeju governor, Won suffered a marked defeat running against DP chief Lee, the incumbent lawmaker in Incheon's Gyeyang-B District. Lee secured 54.12 percent of votes in the electoral district, beating Won's 45.45 percent.

Other potential candidates also included Kim Han-gil, chairman of the Presidential Committee of National Cohesion and a former four-term lawmaker, and former Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho.

In turn, PPP Rep. Kwon Young-se, Yoon's first unification minister, has been named as a possible next prime minister.

Kwon beat DP candidate Kang Tae-woong in Yongsan District in a heated race for one of Seoul's most crucial districts, home to the current presidential office.

The PPP is also on the search for a new leader as it suffers from internal soul-searching while attempting to determine where blame for its resounding defeat lies. Amid a leadership vacuum, party members of the faction against Yoon, including Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and lawmaker-elect Nah Kyung-won, are being floated as potential future heads.

Ahn in turn called on the entire Cabinet and all top presidential aides to offer to resign in the wake of the PPP's devastating election defeat.

Riding on his re-election victory, he said in an MBC radio interview Friday that collective resignations are necessary to bring fresh and competitive people into the Cabinet and the presidential office.

"All should step down voluntarily," he said, demanding a "complete overhaul" of state affairs.

DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung, center, pays his respects at former President Kim Dae-jung’s grave at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, southern Seoul, joined by newly elected lawmakers of the DP and its satellite party on Friday following their general election victory. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

As a parliament controlled by opposition parties may relegate Yoon to a lame duck status for the remainder of his five-year term, the president will have to find ways to cooperate with the DP and its liberal coalition to get any part of his reform agenda passed in the National Assembly.

On Friday, DP chief Lee also said regarding a meeting with Yoon, "Of course we need to meet and talk," stressing a message of dialogue and cooperation while visiting the Seoul National Cemetery with a group of newly-elected lawmakers.

Lee noted that the president, as he is "responsible for state affairs, will also naturally need to cooperate with opposition parties."

Since his inauguration in May 2022, Yoon has yet to hold a formal meeting with the DP head.

Some political analysts point out that Cho seems to be spearheading what could be an offensive against the prosecution, taking a more hard-line stance than Lee, who appears for now to be focusing on dialogue and cooperation. Lee has indicated, however, that the DP and Cho's party have room to work together and join forces to keep the Yoon government in check.

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