Yoon Seok-yeol: "I also went to 'Sampro TV' without knowing exactly what kind of place it is"

Former Chief Election Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in Explains 'Passing' Criticism
"I Attended to Share Thoughts on Financial Markets and Market Economy"

Yoon Seok-yeol, People Power Party Presidential Candidate / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, said regarding his appearance on the economic YouTube channel 'Sampro TV' last year, "I did it without knowing exactly what kind of place it was." This was in response to former Chief Election Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in's remark that he "had no idea about Yoon's appearance on Sampro TV."

On the 6th, during a meeting with reporters at the National Assembly members' meeting in Yeouido, Seoul, Yoon responded to the question, "Former Chairman Kim Jong-in claims he was bypassed regarding the Sampro TV appearance," by saying, "I went there without knowing exactly what kind of place (Sampro TV) it was," and added, "I attended because I was told I could just talk about my thoughts on the stock market, our country's financial market, and the market economy."

Sampro TV released an interview video with Yoon on the 25th of last month. At that time, Yoon expressed his views on various economic issues such as △rationalization of taxation for multi-homeowners △the price ceiling system for pre-sale housing △and the comprehensive real estate tax.

Meanwhile, he also sparked controversy by advocating the 'uselessness of presidential debates.' Yoon said, "I don't think having many policy debates is very helpful in selecting the government's official highest decision-maker and verifying that person's way of thinking," and added, "If we have debates, it ultimately just turns into fights."

In response, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly criticized, saying, "He does not understand the essence of democratic politics," and added, "(Yoon) has lived his whole life as a judge and thinks that if his thoughts are right, then just doing as he thinks is enough, but this kind of thinking can easily lead to dictatorship."

Regarding this, former Chairman Kim said in an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the morning of the 6th, "I didn't know that (Yoon) was going on Sampro TV, nor who was preparing it," and added, "After watching this for nearly a month, I thought this kind of approach cannot continue."

He also pointed out, "When Yoon appeared on Sampro TV, he was not properly prepared," and "After that program ended, very unfavorable public opinion was formed."

Meanwhile, Kim announced his intention to voluntarily resign from the position of Chief Election Committee Chairman on the previous day (the 5th). On that day, in a phone call with a media outlet, he said, "(I was) forcibly dragged into the election committee, so there is no need to have regrets," and added, "The reorganization of the election committee is to ensure the president's election, and if the intentions do not match, then parting ways is the solution."

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