Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo said Tuesday that he has "not at all considered" any plans to throw his hat in the ring for the next presidential race, which will take place this year if the Constitutional Court confirms the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
"The impeachment trial and investigations concerning Yoon's martial law decree are under way and there is a possibility of an early presidential election, but we cannot be sure... Speaking about entering the presidential race is disrespectful to the president and the people, and it does not bode well with my conscience," he told reporters at the National Assembly.
Recent polls show Kim is conservatives' favorite candidate for the next president. Poll figures for him show him getting just over 10 percent of the vote to coming in at second place, within the margin of error, to Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the clear overall frontrunner, from the liberal bloc.
A Jan. 20-21 survey of 1,014 voters conducted by local pollster Gongjeong put Lee at 41.5 percent and Kim at 38.3 percent in a hypothetical race.
The latest Gallup poll in the fourth week of January showed Democratic Party Chair Lee leading the potential presidential race with 31 percent and Kim trailing at a distant second with 11 percent. Lee has consistently been getting over 30 percent support in most polls, but Kim’s support has been fluctuating by a considerable margin.
Kim said the rise in his approval rating appears to be from people frustrated that "politics is heading toward an abnormal situation."
"I didn't do anything special except to speak common sense," he said, reiterating his belief that Yoon's impeachment should be dismissed. Kim did say that he would have opposed Yoon's martial law declaration if he had attended the Cabinet meeting on the matter.
Kim served as the governor of Gyeonggi Province for two terms and for three terms as a member of the National Assembly representing a constituency of Bucheon in the province.
Yoon’s term technically goes until May 2027, but he will lose his status as president if the verdict in his ongoing impeachment trial goes through. He is also under criminal investigation for leading an insurrection and committing abuse of power concerning his allegedly illegal orders during his botched imposition of martial law, which is believed to include orders to arrest a list of prominent politicians and his outspoken opponents.
