Kim Hae-young Shines with 'Straight Talk' in National Interview...Preliminary Candidates' 'Achilles' Heel' Targeted

On the afternoon of the 4th, former Supreme Council member Kim Hae-young appeared as an interviewer in the '1-on-3 intensive interview' during the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential primary 'National Interview.' Photo by the Democratic Party YouTube channel Deli Minjoo capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Candidates participating in the preliminary primary public interview for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination struggled under the sharp questions from former Democratic Party Supreme Council member Kim Hae-young. Kim asked Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung about his stance on the scandal involving actress Kim Bu-seon, and sharply questioned former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, asking, "Are those who disagree with you evil?"

At the Democratic Party's preliminary primary 'public interview' held on the 4th to select the presidential candidate, former Supreme Council member Kim criticized Governor Lee, saying, "Among Democratic Party candidates, you uniquely have controversies involving insults to your sister-in-law and scandals with actresses."

In response, Governor Lee said, "I don't know how much more I need to prove. I hope this much is enough," but bowed his head and apologized, saying, "There are various circumstances regarding the sister-in-law insult issue, but it is clear that there are shortcomings in my character, and I apologize."

Regarding former Minister Choo, Kim asked, "You compared yourself to An Jung-geun and likened those who think differently from you to Japanese criminals. Doesn't this attitude reflect your usual thinking that only you are good and others are evil?"

Former Minister Choo responded, "That is not the case. If you look at the context of the writing, the Democratic Party is a party responsible for people's livelihood economy, democracy, peace, and inter-Korean unification," adding, "I was expressing a determination to return to that spirit."

Kim also questioned former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon about the former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk incident. Kim asked, "The country was very noisy due to the nomination of former Minister Cho Kuk. Regarding the demand for Cho's appointment, did you express support or opposition to President Moon Jae-in?"

In response, former leader Lee explained, "Since (the appointment controversy) caused too much hurt already and it seemed burdensome for the president as well, I said, 'I hope he is not appointed.'"

Previously, Cho Kuk, who was appointed Minister of Justice in September 2019, resigned on October 14 of the same year, 35 days after his appointment, as controversies such as his children's fraudulent college admissions spread. At that time, former leader Lee was serving as Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the public interview on that day was conducted with 200 public interviewers, featuring a 'blind interview' where nine Democratic preliminary candidates answered for one minute each, and a '1-on-3 focused interview' where three expert panelists asked questions and candidates responded.

After three hours of public interviews, the overall winner was former leader Lee, followed by Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon and Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae. This result was based on a simple sum of scores from the 'blind interview' and the '1-on-3 focused interview,' and only the top three overall rankings were disclosed.

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