'Attack Mode' Yoon Seok-yeol Retaliates Against Hong Joon-pyo's Internal Criticism, Calling It Typical Old-Style Politics

Won Hee-ryong also says "Opponents Must Refrain from Attacks"
Hong Joon-pyo counters with "Did You Not Know Prosecutor Son Jun-sung?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] As the level of conflict between Yoon Seok-yeol, former Prosecutor General and presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and Hong Joon-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, intensifies, Yoon, who had consistently remained in 'defense mode' against Hong's fierce attacks, launched a preemptive strike, calling it "internal shooting" and saying "if you didn't know, it means incompetence."

On the 1st, the People Power Party presidential primary candidates participated in the '5th Primary Candidates Broadcast Debate' held at the Maeil Business Newspaper Media Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, continuing their heated debate.

Yoon, in the first order of the 'leadership debate,' pointed to Hong. He directly criticized Hong, saying, "A typical example of old-fashioned politics is not to criticize fairly based on facts and listen to answers, but to slander, find faults, and defame without grounds," adding, "Hong has been widely talked about for internal shooting that divides the party and harsh remarks that undermine public trust."

He then asked, "Isn't it because of this typical old-fashioned politics that the party suffered an unprecedented defeat in the 2017 local elections during your tenure as party leader, and candidates refused to support campaigns?"

In response, Hong said, "When the party was being corrected, where was Yoon? Wasn't he in President Moon Jae-in's embrace?" He added, "He rose to sudden prominence twice and took the lead in the destruction of conservatism, acting as the vanguard and a political prosecutor. Don't you think about that?"

Former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong also added, "The people now want political change from the Moon Jae-in administration, unity in the opposition, and maximum cooperation," and said, "Even if our competition becomes fierce, we should refrain from attacking or sabotaging opponents to gain reflexive benefits, or from inciting actions that go beyond the Democratic Party's counterattacks."

Yoon also questioned Hong, "Did you know in advance about the personnel hiring corruption committed by your close aides serving as heads of subordinate organizations during your tenure as Governor of Gyeongnam Province, and about the special secretarial staff working in the governor's office who were sentenced guilty?"

Hong responded, "This was a case framed on us when Jeong Jeong-sik, a People Power Party lawmaker, was the head of the public security department. I think Jeong is now at Yoon's campaign, so he must have told you that," adding, "If I had known, would I have just left it alone?"

Yoon retorted, "If you didn't know, isn't that incompetence?"

This recalls Hong's remarks at the party debate on the 28th. At that time, Hong asked Yoon, "The Daejang-dong scandal reeked from the start, but didn't you know when you were Prosecutor General?" Yoon answered, "I didn't know at all," and Hong snapped back, "If you didn't know, it means incompetence."

On this day, Hong also countered Yoon's offensive by asking, "If Prosecutor Son Jun-sung was involved in the alleged report-stirring case, did you know or not?"

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