Justice Party "Yoon-Li Bipartisan TV Debate, an Unprecedented Collusion"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Justice Party criticized the agreement between Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, to hold a one-on-one TV debate as an "unprecedented debate collusion."

On the 14th, Lee Dong-young, the chief spokesperson of the Justice Party, said in a briefing at the National Assembly Communication Office in the morning, "Yesterday, the two candidates insisted on agreeing to hold only a one-on-one debate."

Lee said, "In short, it is like students deciding their own exam questions," adding, "We strongly condemn the TV debate collusion between Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl, which infringes on the public's right to know and seriously damages voters' right to choose."

He emphasized, "Unless the purpose is to avoid verification of judicial suspicions and national governance capabilities of the two candidates, we strongly urge them to respond to the TV debate fairly without tricks, as several broadcasters have invited candidates from all parties to a four-way debate."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, the Justice Party's leadership and lawmakers held a press conference at the National Assembly in the morning to condemn the two-party one-on-one TV debate agreement.

Representative Yeo Young-guk raised his voice, saying, "It is no different from forcing the people to choose and eat only rotten blue fish and rotten red fish on their dining table."

He pointed out, "It is unacceptable for the two parties to agree and force the media to hold a debate only between the two, rather than inviting the media," adding, "There has never been such a case in history." He also criticized, "This behavior of the two candidates is an act of collusion where both candidates, who are under various illegal corruption suspicions, act as shields for each other. It is media control and an anti-democratic outrage."

Lee Eun-joo, the senior deputy floor leader, also said, "The two parties, who once united against wealth tax cuts, have already become like decalcomania, rejecting joint special investigations to cover up the Daejang-dong preferential treatment suspicion and the accusation inducement suspicion side by side," adding, "A debate about who is worse, saying 'You are the worst, and I am the lesser evil,' is meaningless." She emphasized, "We strongly urge a multi-party debate including candidate Shim."

The National Assembly Justice Party campaign office was completely empty on the 13th, when Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, decided to temporarily suspend all schedules. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Meanwhile, candidate Shim has suspended all schedules until this day and is contemplating the reorganization of the election committee. It has been two days since he announced on the evening of the 12th, "I take the current election situation seriously and will suspend all schedules after this time and enter into reflection."

In the afternoon, Representative Yeo planned to meet with candidate Shim at Shim's residence.

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