Yoon Visits Geoje, 'Kim Young-sam's Hometown,' Says "Democratic Party's Excellent Politicians Trapped in Military Clique-like 586 Generation"

Yoon: "This presidential election is not a fight between conservatives and progressives, but a judgment on the Democratic Party leaders' administration"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Ki-min Lee and Hyun-ji Kwon] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, criticized on the 19th that "the Democratic Party's sensible and excellent politicians are trapped and unable to move, confined by the 586 ideological generation, which is like a warlord."

On the same day, during a campaign rally held in Geoje, the hometown of former President Kim Young-sam, Yoon stated, "In the past, the Democratic Party learned politics from Presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, and there are many excellent people who have carried on that tradition."

Yoon’s comparison of the 586 generation to warlords is interpreted as an attempt to remind Geoje citizens of the spirit of former President Kim, who eradicated the private military group 'Hanahoe' within the Korea Military Academy, and the civilian government, in order to consolidate votes.

Before the Geoje rally, Yoon visited the birthplace of former President Kim. Entering the birthplace with In-gyu, Kim’s grandson and a member of the People Power Party’s campaign headquarters, he recalled, "As a citizen, memories of former President Kim come back to me. He was always uncompromising in difficult situations, firm when necessary, honest, and practiced great politics, earning love from many citizens regardless of political camp." He also left a message in the guestbook, writing, "I will learn from the spirit of President Kim Young-sam, who opened the era of reform and civilian government through honest and great politics."

He further questioned, "Did President Kim Young-sam engage in factional politics obsessed with ideology? Did he practice interest politics where they divided benefits among themselves?" Then he emphasized, "I think both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party should do well. You supported the People Power Party to form the government, and if they do wrong, support the Democratic Party to form the government. That is democracy and popular sovereignty, isn’t it?"

He added, "(This presidential election) is not a fight between conservatives and progressives, or between the People Power Party and the Democratic Party. This election is about judging the incompetent and corrupt main figures of Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party, who are arrogant toward the people, ignore the people, divide interests among themselves, waste taxpayers’ money on irrelevant things, and claim to support the struggling common people, workers, and farmers while widening polarization and income disparity."

Yoon also launched a fierce attack on Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate, regarding the Daejang-dong development scandal, calling it "astronomical corruption." He said, "A local government mayor can do such things and just take legal responsibility for it. But the main figures of the Democratic Party pushed such a person as a presidential candidate responsible for the fate of 50 million people," belittling him.

He continued, "In Geoje, alongside fisheries, the shipbuilding industry has grown with three shipyards?Hyundai, Daewoo, and Samsung?since our twenties. When I came to Geoje with friends during my school days and youth summers, I felt proud seeing the enormous scale of the shipyards." He stressed, "We must regain past glory. Without the political expulsion of forces stuck in outdated ideology and dividing interests among themselves, can Geoje be revived?"

Yoon also explained his labor policy after being criticized as regressive. He said, "Labor means all workers and those engaged in labor should be guaranteed and enjoy rights together. It is not the exclusive property of a minority of militant unions or the Democratic Party regime allied with militant unions."

Regarding the Democratic Party’s passage of a 14 trillion won supplementary government budget in the Budget and Accounts Special Committee on the same day, he dismissed it as a "populist budget."

He pledged, "To achieve Geoje’s second leap forward, I will strongly support the central government to upgrade the shipbuilding industry by adopting advanced science and technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and create the world’s best shipbuilding technology." He also promised, "I will extend the Daejeon-Tongyeong Expressway to Geoje to make it a transportation hub with access in all directions."

Meanwhile, before the Geoje rally, Yoon also campaigned in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, where he questioned, "Is the Democratic Party really the party that inherited the spirit of Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun?" and emphasized the need to judge the Democratic Party government. Bongha Village in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, is the site of former President Roh’s tomb and residence.

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