Song Young-gil and Lee Jun-seok Both Express 'Regret' Over Yoon Seok-yeol's Daegu Remarks

Song Young-gil "Remarks belittling other regions..."
Lee Jun-seok "I helped you cross the impeachment river... but you went in"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Park Joon-yi] The leaders of the ruling and opposition parties expressed regret over former Prime Minister Yoon Seok-yeol's remarks made in Daegu as a presidential candidate from the opposition. Although their points of criticism differed, they agreed that there were unfortunate aspects in his choice of words and approach.

On the 21st, Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, appeared on SBS’s ‘Joo Young-jin’s News Briefing’ to share their thoughts on political issues. Song said, "I was pained by the remarks (Yoon made yesterday) in Daegu," adding, "It is also regrettable that someone who just visited Gwangju made disparaging comments about other regions, and expressions like ‘crazy talk’ should be softened."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, former Prime Minister Yoon held a meeting with medical staff at Dongsan Hospital in Jung-gu, Daegu, and said, "While the medical staff and citizens of Daegu were making efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, instead of supporting them, there were even immature and crazy remarks suggesting that Daegu should be locked down like Wuhan. I think the pride of Daegu citizens must have been greatly hurt." Although the remarks were intended to express gratitude to Daegu citizens, they were criticized for belittling people from other regions.

Song said, "Former Prime Minister Jeong Sye-kyun actually lived there when COVID-19 was rampant in Daegu," and mentioned, "There was a touching story in Gwangju where patients from Daegu were taken in." He added, "I hope politics will emphasize such things."

Lee also said, "Although he is a candidate from the broad opposition, (Yoon’s) remarks yesterday were regrettable," and pointed out, "When I spoke about impeachment in Daegu, I thought Yoon might come over to our side, so I took the initiative and moved forward, but now he seems to be going back into that river."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The day before, Yoon was asked to evaluate former President Park Geun-hye in Daegu and responded, "There are people who feel hurt or critical about the investigation of a president who came from the region. I fully understand and there are parts I feel sorry for in my heart."

Regarding this, Lee said, "I understand why he made such a political expression," but also pointed out, "That remark is a statement leaning to the right, even from our (People Power Party) perspective in terms of direction."

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