Park Young-sun "Oh Se-hoon Attended Taegeukgi Rally"... Oh Se-hoon "Is This Wrong?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Oh Ju-yeon] Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party candidate running in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, criticized Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, for participating in and giving a speech at a past Taegeukgi rally.

At a TV debate hosted by the Korea Broadcasting Reporters Club held on the 5th at the Mokdong Arts Council in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, Park referred to Oh’s attendance at the Taegeukgi rally, asking, "Are you standing with the Taegeukgi rally?"

When Oh asked back, "Is this wrong?" Park responded, "Aren’t these people the ones who poured cold water on small business owners’ sales?" and criticized, "After the August 15 rally, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, and it became a situation where small business owners were hit with cold water again." Oh countered, "You shouldn’t twist facts."

The two sides then clashed over the content of Oh’s speech.

When Park asked what the speech was about, Oh said, "I said President Moon Jae-in is a dictator." When Park asked again, "What do you mean by dictator?" Oh replied, "Ignoring the opposition party and disregarding the will of the people." Park responded, "If you ignore the will of the people, is that dictatorship? Dictatorship has become really easy."

Oh’s support for the Parents’ Association during his mayoral tenure also became an issue.

Park mentioned, "During Oh’s time as mayor, support was given to the Parents’ Association, and 380 million won was spent on publicity through media outlets." Oh explained, "(Seoul City) supports hundreds of organizations," adding, "The media publicity was related to free school meals, where the Democratic Party cowardly conducted bad vote campaigns and vote abstention campaigns, so we advertised to encourage people to vote."

Park criticized, "Which is more important, the Parents’ Association or children’s meals? You supported lunchboxes for the Parents’ Association but opposed children’s meals." Oh retorted, "Is this how you ask questions? Pulling out support given to one of hundreds of civic groups and comparing it to major policies?is that a proper comparison?"

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