Yoon Suk-yeol spent the final days of 2021 on what should have been one of the easiest stops in his campaign to become South Korean president, speaking to his conservative party’s base in the city of Daegu. Supporters shouted "We love you” as they waved flags and raised banners reading "Yoon, the World’s Best President.”

But his backers were drowned out by protest chants from crowds loyal to the country’s last conservative leader, Park Geun-hye, who blame the former top prosecutor for her downfall in a corruption probe. Yoon avoided impromptu speeches and nodded as he sought to avoid any more gaffes like those that have helped plunge his candidacy into crisis.

The one-time front-runner trailed ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung by 12 percentage points in the presidential election scheduled for March 9, according to a survey released Saturday by Hankook Research. On Wednesday, Yoon hit the panic button, announcing that he had disbanded his campaign team for an overhaul and would soon "show the public the changed image of Yoon Suk-yeol in a completely different form.”