Four Presidential Candidates Gathered in One Place... Who Crafted the Best 'Youth, Region, Environment' Pledges?

Presenting Different Agendas: Transition, Fairness, Technology, and Inequality

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Four presidential candidates gathered in one place for the first time since their nomination. Presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung, Yoon Seok-yeol, Sim Sang-jung, and Ahn Cheol-soo attended the ‘SBS D Forum’ held on the 18th in Mapo-gu, Seoul, each showcasing their unique pledges on youth, regional balance, environment, and more.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, presented a ‘Transformative Fair Growth Strategy.’ It combines ‘fair growth,’ which restores growth potential through the recovery of fairness, and ‘transformative growth,’ which turns transitional crises into growth opportunities. He explained the purpose by saying, "The small streams have dried up, and the ladder for social mobility has disappeared," adding, "We need to expand the narrow nest." As a method of implementation, he announced plans to create new industries through massive investment. He also pledged to enable sustainable growth by boldly executing energy transition policies.

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party presidential candidate, emphasized the ‘Power of Coexistence.’ He stated that ‘sustainability’ must be kept in mind to solve issues such as guaranteeing opportunities for youth, resolving regional imbalances, and responding to climate change. In particular, he promised to guarantee direct participation of youth, abolish industrial regulations in regions, and provide infrastructure to offer opportunities. To address climate change, he declared the abolition of the nuclear phase-out policy and making ‘coal phase-out’ the core axis of energy transition.

Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, referred to herself as the ‘First Climate President, Future President’ and focused her speech on ‘solving inequality.’ She asked, "Can we say that our country has become a world top 10 advanced labor country, gender equality advanced country, and climate advanced country?" and explained, "Despite remarkable growth, citizens’ lives have not improved because of inequality." Candidate Sim stated that strong readjustment of vested interests and a youth basic asset system are necessary to resolve intergenerational imbalance. To solve the climate crisis, she emphasized reducing carbon emissions by 50% compared to 2010 by 2030 and increasing the share of renewable energy by 50%.

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party presidential candidate, introduced himself as the ‘Science and Technology President.’ He proposed abolishing the college entrance exam system, implementing a semi-military service system, and supplying 500,000 affordable youth safe housing units, aiming to turn the "era of youth anger" into the "era of youth hope." He also pledged to enact the ‘Climate Crisis Act’ and establish the ‘National Climate Crisis Committee’ to address the climate crisis. For regional balanced development, he proposed a complete reorganization of administrative districts.

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