Lee Jun-seok Targets Lee Jae-myung: "A Strategy to Paint Yoon with a Negative Image"

Yoon and Lee Clash Over 'Baekhyeon-dong Development'

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate (left), and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, are rehearsing before the start of the 2022 presidential candidate invitation debate jointly hosted by six broadcasting companies and organized by the Korea Journalists Association at the Maeil Business Newspaper Media Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 11th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 11th, during the second TV debate hosted by the Korea Journalists Association, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, exchanged sharp verbal attacks, while Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, said, "Candidate Lee's strategy is clear."

On that day, Lee posted on his Facebook, saying, "Whenever something is said, the strategy is simply to say 'That is not true' and try to cast a negative image on our candidate."

He added, "As a result, they end up taking reckless moves, and although it is not certain whether it was from former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, the candidate impersonating the Prosecutor General questioned the Prosecutor General about incidents that happened in the prosecution, entering a very disadvantageous and almost nonsensical battlefield."

He continued, "If they explain the Baekhyeon-dong case like that, maybe the podcasts or YouTube channels of that camp will accept it, but in local administration, the most basic and frequent types of real estate scandals are placing roads on blind lots, changing land categories, and zoning upgrades. Would such a sloppy explanation work on a special investigation prosecutor who knows all these things?"

Lee also belittled Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People’s Party, saying, "The third-place candidate was again promoted without a primary in a faction, so it seems he has just been stagnant for 10 years."

On the afternoon of the 11th, candidates were preparing for the broadcast at the '2022 Presidential Candidate Invitation Debate' hosted by the Korea Journalists Association and jointly organized by six broadcasting companies, held at the Maeil Business Newspaper Media Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. From left to right: Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party candidate; Sim Sang-jung, Justice Party candidate; Ahn Cheol-soo, People’s Party candidate; Yoon Seok-youl, People Power Party candidate. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier that day, candidates Lee and Yoon clashed over allegations of preferential treatment in the development of apartments in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam City, during the second presidential TV debate. The main allegation was that during Lee’s tenure as mayor of Seongnam, preferential treatment was given to a specific private business operator in the apartment construction permit process in Baekhyeon-dong.

Candidate Yoon claimed to Lee, "A 50-meter retaining wall was erected on the site of the Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, but before that, the land use change was rejected twice. After a person who was Lee’s legal office manager and the head of the election campaign headquarters for the Seongnam mayoral election was recruited by the development company, the floor area ratio increased fivefold."

He continued, "This operator received preferential treatment worth about 300 billion won. Thousands of residents who moved in cannot even register their property or get loans, but a specific operator received astronomical profits worth hundreds of billions of won. Is this fair and normal administration, and can you call yourself a master of economic administration?"

Candidate Lee responded, "First of all, if you check the facts, it is not true at all that the person was a legal office manager. He was not a legal office manager."

In response, candidate Yoon asked, "Wasn’t he the head of the campaign headquarters?" Lee replied, "He was the campaign headquarters head for the 2006 (Seongnam mayoral) election, which he lost," adding, "I’m telling you this happened much later. He is someone who is hard to contact."

Lee also said, "This is a matter handled by the Urban Planning Deliberation Committee and related departments," and added, "The Ministry of Land requested to relocate Seongnam’s public institutions, but it was rejected. We only changed the land use according to the law as requested by the Ministry of Land and the Food Research Institute under conditions that secured maximum benefits for Seongnam City."

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