Do we like Yoo Seong-min?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A decent, independent-minded conservative with no harmful words found, but a silent record on LGBTQ+ rights and a case still before prosecutors keep him mid-table.
Yoo Seong-min is a Daegu conservative who started as an economist at the state-run Korea Development Institute before becoming a four-term lawmaker. He is the bloke the conservative side keeps calling the reformer: he pitched himself as a president who would revive the economy and keep the US alliance strong.
His big career moment was a fight with his own side. As a former party floor leader he fell out with President Park Geun-hye, and in 2016 her loyalists on the nominations committee stalled his candidacy. He quit the Saenuri Party to run as an independent, calling it “political retaliation”. That is a real cost paid for standing apart, whatever you think of his politics.
He kept that streak after martial law. In December 2024 he called President Yoon's declaration “an unconstitutional act that could never be tolerated and a failed rebellion”. In April 2025 he skipped his party's presidential primary, faulting it for lacking urgency, and said he would stay “a true conservative” rebuilding the right.
Now the harm check. We found no anti-LGBTQ+, anti-woman or anti-migrant words from him, and no conspiracy talk. But at the April 2017 presidential debate, where Hong Joon-pyo attacked gay people and Moon Jae-in said he opposed homosexuality, Yoo stayed silent while Sim Sang-jeung was the only candidate to clearly defend gay rights. We found nothing from him since, and nothing on climate either. That is a gap, not a pass with flying colours.
The fresh news is the messy bit. In October 2026 Incheon police referred a case over a university faculty appointment to prosecutors, with Yoo and three others booked without detention. He denies it, calls it “a political investigation and a political audit”, and says the Lee government is using police against opponents. A university research ethics review reportedly found no wrongdoing. Nothing is decided, so it is too soon to call.
There was also a 2022 complaint from a lawyer alleging he listed an address where he did not live in local elections. Police said they were investigating, and we found no outcome. In early 2026 he confirmed he turned down an offer of the prime minister's job from Lee Jae-myung, saying “How can you work together when your views are different?”.