[Summary] Divergent Reviews of Park Young-sun and Oh Se-hoon's Second TV Debate: "Equivalent to an Own Goal" vs "Regret over Negativity"

Park Young-sun "Lies Every Morning" vs Oh Se-hoon "Lie Frame"
Ruling Party "Oh Se-hoon is Self-Destructing... Park Young-sun's Clear Victory"
Opposition "Continued Negativity... It Was Probably Not an Enjoyable Debate for Citizens"

Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor (right), and Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, are greeting each other at the Seoul mayoral by-election candidate invitation debate held on the afternoon of the 30th at KBS in Yeouido, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] As Park Young-sun of the Democratic Party and Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party, candidates in the Seoul mayoral by-election, held their second TV debate, the ruling and opposition parties showed contrasting reactions. The ruling party claimed, "Candidate Oh is scoring an own goal," while the opposition criticized, "Candidate Park's negative strategy was excessive."

Jeong Cheong-rae, a Democratic Party lawmaker, wrote on his Facebook on the 31st, "Candidate Oh is self-destructing. In football terms, he is scoring consecutive own goals," and evaluated, "Candidate Park was composed and sharp today. Park's complete victory, Oh's complete defeat."

He pointed out, "The word Oh used the most today was 'lie,'" adding, "It seemed as if the word 'lie' itself caused him tremendous stress. To the extent that Candidate Park remarked, 'It seems like you have developed a lie complex.'"

He continued, "This reminded me of the fiasco in the last presidential TV debate when Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, said, 'Am I MB (former President Lee Myung-bak) avatar? Am I Gapcheolsup?' This became an own goal that created the image of 'Ahn Cheol-soo = MB avatar.' Similarly, I wonder if Candidate Oh himself has made a self-defeating move by forming a reverse frame of 'Oh Se-hoon = lie.'"

He also said, "What particularly made people frown was the extortion and threats," and claimed, "'You should be investigated,' 'You will be held accountable'?such threatening remarks during the debate are a major point loss."

However, regarding Candidate Park from the same party, Jeong praised, "She showed various aspects such as being clear and smart like herself, having administrative experience, being good at work, and having legislative activity drive," and gave her "95 out of 100 points, an A plus."

Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor (from left), Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, and Lee Soo-bong, the Minsheng Party candidate, are preparing for a debate at the Seoul mayor by-election candidates' invitation debate held at KBS in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 30th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the other hand, the opposition pointed out that Candidate Park's negative strategy was excessive. Lee Jun-seok, head of the New Media Division of the People Power Party's election committee, said on Facebook that day, "Since our candidate is now showing a meaningful gap in support rates, all the speakers from the other camp and Candidate Park are only shouting 'Please resign.' They keep talking about witnesses and lies to create grounds for that. If this continues, the public will inevitably perceive Candidate Park as a second 'resignation fairy.'"

Oh Shin-hwan, co-chairman of the People Power Party's election committee, also appeared on YTN Radio's 'Hwang Bo-seon's Starting New Morning' and pointed out, "It is difficult to gauge any victory from the debate, but yesterday Candidate Park's side consistently continued negative black propaganda during the debate. I regret that."

He added, "Candidate Oh talked about Seoul’s vision and policies, but Candidate Park spent more than half of her time attacking the Naegok-dong land issue," and said, "Continuously raising the Naegok-dong issue unilaterally without mentioning the topics and issues of policy debate was probably not a pleasant debate for the citizens."

Earlier, in the second TV debate on the night of the 30th, Candidates Park and Oh again clashed over Candidate Oh's 'Naegok-dong in-law land suspicion.'

Candidate Park opened her keynote speech by saying, "The Naegok-dong land issue is a problem of Candidate Oh's inappropriate attitude as a public official," and started with, "He lies every day."

She criticized, "Candidate Oh’s claim that he did not know about the Greenbelt being lifted as the incumbent mayor is a lie," and added, "When the Greenbelt was lifted, as mayor, he should have disclosed that he had land there."

In response, Candidate Oh rebutted, "At that time, the Greenbelt release was decided by the Seoul City Housing Director’s authority," and pointed out, "They are trying to frame me with lies."

Especially, Candidate Oh said, "Whenever the topic comes up, it goes to Naegok-dong. Have I ever said a single negative or black propaganda-like word about Candidate Park?" and criticized, "I hope you change your mindset and compete with proper policies and vision."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.