Song Young-gil "Yoon's Uppercut Ceremony, Why Didn't He Go to the Military with a Body Like a Merchant?"

Song Young-gil "Physical examination record card must be disclosed at the time of prosecutor appointment"
Seong Il-jong, 'Yoon uppercut'? "Expression of confidence"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, responds to supporters' cheers with an uppercut ceremony during a base rally held on the afternoon of the 15th at the Youth Street in Seomyeon, Busan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, urged the disclosure of candidate Yoon Seok-yeol's anisometropia military exemption records, saying, "Seeing Yoon's 'uppercut ceremony,' he seems to have the strong physique of a ssireum wrestler, so how could he have avoided military service?"

On the morning of the 17th, at the Democratic Party's Gangwon Provincial Office during the Great Transformation Election Committee meeting, Song said, "Candidate Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party) was exempted from military service due to a disability caused by his left hand being pressed by a press machine, which is understandable. However, Yoon was exempted due to anisometropia, with a vision difference of over 0.7 between his left and right eyes," adding, "But according to Representative Kim Eui-gyeom, the physical examination records submitted when Yoon was appointed as a prosecutor show a vision difference of only 0.2."

Candidate Lee was exempted from military service after being diagnosed with a level 6 disability due to his arm being caught in a press machine during his teenage years. Yoon was exempted due to anisometropia with a significant vision difference between his eyes. During last year's Democratic Party presidential primary, Lee revealed a photo of his twisted left arm caused by the accident while working in a factory.

Song stated, "This is a presidential election to choose the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. If Yoon, who advocates preemptive strikes and national security, cannot fulfill his military duty, he should submit materials to convince the public why he was exempted," adding, "I want to question whether a candidate with a strange body that suddenly becomes abnormal when military duty is required but returns to normal when seeking success can be the commander-in-chief."

He continued, "There is growing controversy about this, but Yoon remains silent," and urged, "We call on him to disclose the vision difference recorded on the physical examination card submitted when he was appointed as a prosecutor."

Additionally, Song criticized Yoon's pledge to deploy additional THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) systems and his mention of preemptive strikes, saying, "The People Power Party, which refuses to return wartime operational control over conventional weapons, claims that the Republic of Korea's military and president can exercise operational control over the cutting-edge THAAD system? This is absurd. How can preemptive strikes be possible without U.S. consent?"

He added, "Forces with a strong will to start a war induce the opponent's preemptive strike," and pointed out, "The preemptive strike logic is not only an impossible pledge for the Republic of Korea's president, who lacks wartime operational control, but also a very dangerous logic."

Meanwhile, on the previous day (16th), Representative Sung Il-jong of the People Power Party stated on JTBC's 'Ssulzun Live' that "(Yoon's uppercut) is an expression of confidence." When asked if it implied 'political retaliation,' Representative Sung responded, "Now they are overinterpreting even the uppercut," and said, "It seems the Democratic Party is using the political retaliation frame to some extent to rally their support base."

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