Lee Jae-myung: "We Must 'Rush' the Livelihood Bills" Lee Nak-yeon Side: "Sister-in-law's Insult Reflects Basic Qualifications Issue"

The Full-Scale Counterattack Against Lee Jae-myung and Lee Nak-yeon Begins

[Asia Economy Reporters O Ju-yeon and Gu Chae-eun] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, has returned with his characteristic ‘cider’ tone, delivering sharp and clear remarks. Lee Nak-yeon, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea and a rival for the ruling party’s presidential candidate position, intensified his offensive by once again mentioning Lee Jae-myung’s ‘insulting remarks about his sister-in-law.’ As the gap in approval ratings between the top two presidential contenders within the party narrows, the intensity of their exchanges is also rising.

On the 15th, Lee appeared on a radio show and criticized Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, for opposing the distribution of nationwide disaster relief funds, saying, "It seems like he is just playing politics," and added, "When it comes to truly necessary livelihood issues, we must boldly push them through. To put it more elegantly, I would call it a forced passage."

He also acknowledged that allowing Lee Nak-yeon, who had been trailing far behind in approval ratings, to catch up recently was a ‘strategic failure.’ Lee said, "I thought I must never hurt anyone to maintain internal unity, so I was too defensive," and added, "Those things accumulated and turned out to be a strategic failure." He then revealed plans to revise his strategy, stating, "In the main primary, I will approach it properly (not defensively)."

Encouraged by the recent rebound in approval ratings, Lee Nak-yeon’s camp has stepped up its offensive against Lee Jae-myung. On the same day, Representative Seol Hoon, from Lee Nak-yeon’s camp, said in a radio interview, "People who have listened to the recordings of Lee Jae-myung’s profanity say this is not something that can be resolved with an apology; it’s a matter of basic qualifications, and this seems to be fundamentally revealed." He also sharpened his criticism of Lee’s trademark basic income policy. Representative Seol evaluated, "There are doubts about the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of basic income, and since it is not the number one pledge, the result is that Lee’s brand itself is damaged, which must have disappointed people."

Meanwhile, in a poll released that day, Lee Nak-yeon ranked second among Democratic Party presidential candidates with 23.2%, trailing Lee Jae-myung (32.9%) by 9.7 percentage points. However, in head-to-head matchups against former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, both candidates showed a close race within the margin of error, effectively demonstrating equal competitiveness. Yoon received 39.4% against Lee Jae-myung’s 38.6%, and 41.0% against Lee Nak-yeon’s 36.7% (Realmeter survey conducted nationwide from the 12th to 13th among 2,036 adults aged 18 and over, with a sampling error of ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level). This trend is similar to the results of a poll conducted by Asia Economy and WinG Korea Consulting on the 10th and 11th.

Riding this momentum, Lee Nak-yeon appears to be accelerating his policy initiatives. On the same day, he took the lead in proposing the three laws regulating land monopoly (amendments to the Land Ownership Limit, Development Profit Recovery Act, and Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act) and pledged to "triple the proportion of high-quality public rental housing where the middle class wants to live."

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