"Yoon's Ads Are Ultimately Funded by Public Taxes" Criticized, Lee Jun-seok Says "Ahn Talking About Taxes? It's a Comedy"

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, attended and spoke at a press briefing hosted by the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 28th.
[Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] The People’s Party and the People Power Party are engaged in a heated debate over the so-called presidential election advertising expenses.

On the 29th, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, appeared on MBC Radio’s 'Politician Insider' and said, "Historically, the unification deadline is usually about 44 days before the election." He added, "This week, most online advertisements are contracted by the party. Depending on the scale, it can go up to 6 billion KRW," and predicted, "The party that signs the contract now shows a will to complete the race, while the party that does not sign the contract is seen as having a low possibility of finishing the race."

At the time, Lee said, "The official campaign period is about 21 days, and contracts must be made about 20 days before that to meet the dispatch deadlines for campaign vehicles and promotional materials necessary for the election," and analyzed, "If unification happens and a candidate disappears or fails to get 15% of the vote, the money is wasted." He also claimed, "I don’t know what choice the People’s Party made, but internally, they must have executed funds based on that judgment," and added, "In the current situation, it is quite a risky move for a candidate not to spend a total of 40 billion KRW as in the last election."

A post by Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party.
[Photo by Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, Facebook capture]

However, Lee Tae-gyu, head of the People’s Party’s general election campaign headquarters, rebutted Lee’s remarks. On the 29th, in a phone interview with Kukmin Ilbo, Lee said, "The funds that the People Power Party will spend on presidential election advertising come from party subsidies or election expenses reimbursed from the national treasury after the election," pointing out, "This means that the advertising expenses for the People Power Party’s ads made to elect candidate Yoon Seok-yeol are ultimately paid with taxpayers’ money."

Lee also raised his voice in criticism, saying, "Lee Jun-seok does not spend even a single won of his own money on the People Power Party’s presidential election advertising expenses." He explained, "Too much taxpayer money going into presidential elections is a chronic problem in Korean politics," and added, "The People’s Party will also efficiently execute presidential election advertising expenses," and "However, unlike the People Power Party, we will not recklessly spend election advertising as if it were taxpayers’ money."

Nevertheless, the verbal dispute over advertising expenses did not cease. On the 30th, Lee shared an article containing Lee Tae-gyu’s interview on his Facebook and added, "I reflect it cleanly." Lee pointed out, "In the last presidential election, candidate Ahn spent 46 billion KRW and candidate Hong spent 42 billion KRW on election expenses," and criticized, "At that time, the party size was one-third, but candidate Ahn spent more election expenses and received more taxpayer reimbursements, so it is a comedy for him to talk about taxes."

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