Moon and Yoon Clash Head-On Over Apology Demand for Remarks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in expressed strong anger and demanded an apology regarding People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol's remarks about the "investigation into accumulated evils." Following the Blue House's expression of "displeasure" the previous day, President Moon personally stepped forward. With less than a month remaining until the presidential election, the direct confrontation between President Moon and candidate Yoon is expected to have a considerable impact on the election landscape.

On the 10th, Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Chief of Public Communication, held an unscheduled briefing and conveyed, "During the morning staff meeting, President Moon said, 'Are you saying that when you served as the head of the Central District Prosecutors' Office and Prosecutor General, you ignored the accumulated evils of this government, or are you planning to fabricate nonexistent evils through planned investigations? You must answer this.' According to Chief Park, President Moon stated, 'I express strong anger and demand an apology for baselessly labeling this government as a target of investigations into accumulated evils and illegal acts.'

President Moon's remarks were in response to candidate Yoon's earlier interview with the media, in which he declared, "If elected, I will investigate the accumulated evils of the Moon administration."

However, considering that the Blue House had already expressed displeasure the previous day and that President Moon had maintained "political neutrality" ahead of the election by distancing himself from candidates' remarks, this is expected to lead to controversy over election interference.

Both ruling and opposition parties are closely monitoring President Moon's remarks. Woo Sang-ho, head of the Democratic Party's election campaign headquarters, said, "The level of the remarks is high; such statements have never been made in the past five years," adding, "He (Yoon Seok-yeol) made a big mistake." Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, stated on Facebook, "Sudden acceleration on principles to disparage the opposition candidate is a clear election interference," and added, "I hope this is not a preliminary battle by the Blue House to nitpick and attack the opposition candidate on every issue."

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