Yoon Seok-yeol "Debate Without Data?…Hard for Anyone to Accept"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party presidential candidate, are attending the opening ceremony of the 2022 Securities and Derivatives Market held at the Korea Exchange in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on January 3rd, 2022, and are engaged in conversation. 2022.01.03

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, expressed regret over the cancellation of the one-on-one debate with Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "It's unfortunate," and added, "It is difficult for anyone to accept why bringing materials is not allowed."

After visiting the Anyang Fire Station in Dongan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi Province on the 31st of last month, Candidate Yoon told reporters, "You need to explain based on objective evidence with materials. How can you conduct verification and political discussions in front of the public with just words?"

Previously, the one-on-one debate between Candidate Lee and Candidate Yoon was ultimately canceled due to conflicts over whether materials could be brought. When the People Power Party proposed bringing materials as a condition for the debate, the Democratic Party argued, "It means using cheat sheets," leading to a dispute.

Regarding this, Candidate Yoon pointed out, "Didn't the Democratic Party also bring materials during the primary debates?"

He also claimed, "The Democratic candidate has been confident about debates since November last year, but we only recently selected our candidate and suggested starting debates to prepare for the general election. When we proposed holding the debate on Lunar New Year's Eve evening, when viewership would be highest, they did not properly accept this."

He added, "Through the four-party official debate, we will do our best to ensure the public understands the policies and verification of the opposing candidates well."

Furthermore, regarding the additional deployment of THAAD that he previously mentioned, Yoon emphasized, "The THAAD possessed by the U.S. military in Seongju cannot defend the Seoul metropolitan area, so it will be centered on the Pyeongtaek U.S. military base," and added, "Since North Korea continues missile launches and tests, we urgently need to secure a high-altitude missile defense system as a matter of self-defense to protect the lives and safety of our people."

On Lee's mention of reinstating the bar exam, Yoon said, "Law schools inherently require high tuition and study costs, so it is right to significantly support scholarships and other measures to guarantee opportunities for those who find it difficult to afford these costs," and added, "I believe in guaranteeing fair opportunities and properly designing the existing system, but reinstating the bar exam is somewhat inappropriate."

Meanwhile, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, and Shim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the Justice Party, criticized the one-on-one debate itself and urged participation in an unconditional four-party debate.

Candidate Ahn held a press conference on the steps in front of the National Assembly Main Building in Yeouido, Seoul, and criticized the cancellation of the debate, saying, "Before the Democratic Party and the People Power Party blame each other, they should feel ashamed."

He also demanded, "I ask both candidates to apologize to the public for inciting political conflict through a collusive debate that should never have been discussed in the first place," and proposed, "And I suggest that we properly compete without materials in the four-party debate on February 3."

Candidate Shim also held a press conference at the National Assembly and evaluated, "Cheating, privilege, and foul play have been defeated, and law, fairness, and common sense have won."

He criticized, "The collusive debate of the two major parties' vested interests was canceled after a fierce struggle," and added, "The few days of fighting over favorable conditions and making only the public tired is the typical wasteful two-party politics we have seen repeatedly."

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