Passing Only the Mic, Yoon Seok-yeol? ... Lee Jun-seok Says "Better Than Lee Who Throws and Takes Back"

"Given Me a Chance to Respond as a Sign of Respect"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is applauding at a meeting with young cultural artists held on the 8th at a small theater in Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. On the left is Lee Jun-seok, the party leader. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, explained the situation where presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol handed him the microphone instead of answering questions directly during a meeting they both attended.

Earlier, Lee and Yoon attended a meeting with young cultural artists at a small theater in Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 8th. On that day, there were several moments when Yoon passed the microphone to Lee, leading some to criticize that Lee was giving too many answers compared to Yoon.

After the meeting, photos showing Yoon handing over the microphone spread on social media and online communities, sparking criticism questioning Yoon's qualifications.

In response, Lee posted on Facebook on the 12th, stating, "If there is any distorted content, I will correct it with the actual facts," and offered clarification.

Lee explained, "At the meeting in Daehak-ro, the candidate gave me some opportunities to answer first out of respect for the party regarding parts he had not yet fully grasped, but the candidate answered all questions accurately from his own perspective."

He added, "It is better to be like our candidate, who does not throw out and then retract policies like the four-day workweek or restaurant quota system without consulting the party, than the opposing candidate who does so," defending Yoon.

On the 13th, during an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' when asked about the matter, Lee emphasized, "As far as I remember, the microphone came to me first about twice, and the rest were all answered and supplemented by the candidate. It is an unchanging fact that the candidate is taking the lead in conversations with young people and citizens."

However, he said, "There are parts where the party's policies should take priority depending on the issue. Since there are parts the party has handled so far, the candidate handed me the microphone to give me the opportunity in those cases," and added, "Overall, our candidate answered all the questions."

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