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Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl pays tribute at Seoul National Cemetery on Saturday. (provided by Yoon Seok-youl)

Yoon Seok-youl, former prosecutor general and the most likely opposition candidate in the upcoming presidential election, paid his respects at Seoul National Cemetery on June 5, one day before Korea’s Memorial Day, and vowed to “make our country a place that doesn’t anger those who laid down their lives for it.”

Yoon’s message about making the country better during a visit to a national cemetery is seen as strongly hinting that he plans to run for president.

Yoon’s staff told the press that he’d paid a visit to a chamber holding spirit tablets and a memorial to unknown soldiers below Chunghon Tower at the cemetery on Saturday. Yoon also reportedly expressed his condolences during a meeting with family members of those killed in the Vietnam War and in counterespionage operations.

In the visitors’ log, Yoon wrote that he would “make our country a place that doesn’t anger those who laid down their lives for it.”

Yoon previously visited the cemetery on Jan. 4, while still serving as prosecutor general. During that visit, he wrote the following message in the visitors’ log: “Carrying on the wishes of the martyrs who laid down their lives for the fatherland, I will work to make the prosecution service an institution of integrity.”

In the earlier message, Yoon had promised to improve the prosecution service, of which he was then the head. But now it’s the country itself that he’s promising to improve. That more or less makes official his presidential ambitions.

Seoul National Cemetery is a symbolic location that senior government officials, party leaders, and other major figures often visit before taking up office to proclaim their dedication to the country.

In the Seoul National Cemetery visitors’ log, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl wrote that he would “make our country a place that doesn’t anger those who laid down their lives for it.” (provided by Yoon Seok-youl)

Yoon’s promise to “make our country a place that doesn’t anger those who laid down their lives for it” is red meat for moderates and conservatives who are angry at what they regard as hypocritical behavior by the current administration under President Moon Jae-in. Yoon’s remark strongly suggests that he wants to stand in the vanguard of the anti-Moon forces that seek to take control of the government.

“This is Yoon’s first official and personal declaration of his intention to run for president. He appears to have deliberately chosen language that would reinforce his anti-Moon image, enhancing the symbolism of Seoul National Cemetery,” said a lawmaker with the People Power Party (PPP) who claims to be close to Yoon.

“Yoon has always had a keen interest in rewarding the sacrifice of our service members. This has nothing to do with announcing a presidential run,” one of Yoon’s associates said.

But following the PPP’s national convention, support is growing for tapping Yoon to be the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election. There’s also been speculation that Yoon may join the party following news about a series of meetings with PPP lawmakers, including Yoon Hee-sook, Chung Jin-suk, and Kweon Seong-dong.

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter

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