Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol Go All Out in Preparation for Debate Super Week

Two Courtroom TV Debates on 21st and 25th
Lee: "Emergency System... Maintain Economic President Policy"
Yoon: "Focus on Highlighting Economic Policy Differences"

Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, and Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party, presidential candidates (from left), are posing for a commemorative photo before the start of the 2022 presidential candidate invitation debate hosted by the Korea Journalists Association and jointly organized by six broadcasting companies at the Maeil Business Newspaper Media Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 11th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporters Park Jun-yi and Koo Chae-eun] Lee Jae-myung, Yoon Seok-yeol, and other presidential candidates from both ruling and opposition parties are refraining from external activities and focusing on understanding economic issues ahead of the first legally mandated TV debate on the 21st. They are fully committed to this debate, viewing it as a turning point for their approval ratings.

According to sources from both ruling and opposition parties on the 21st, the candidates will clash for 120 minutes on economic policies, covering topics such as ‘Economic Measures in the COVID-19 Era’ and ‘Economic Policy Directions of the Next Government’.

Each candidate sees the TV debates, which will be held twice this week (including on the 25th), as a catalyst for a final turnaround. Therefore, they are minimizing their schedules and dedicating all their time to preparing for the TV debates. A Democratic Party campaign official stated, "We will enter an emergency mode for the remaining two weeks until early voting and conduct an all-out campaign on all fronts," adding, "While maintaining Lee Jae-myung’s existing message of being the ‘Economic President to Overcome Crisis,’ we will also launch a full-scale offensive against allegations related to Yoon Seok-yeol of the People Power Party."

Candidate Yoon is also not scheduling any other activities on this day and is focusing on preparing for the legally mandated debate. Having strongly criticized Lee in previous regional rallies, Yoon has prepared a strategy to highlight the differences in economic policies between himself and Lee during the debate. A People Power Party campaign official explained, "Lee’s ‘transformative fair growth’ approach involves the government leading the industry, whereas Yoon’s ‘dynamic innovative growth’ emphasizes putting the private sector first, with the government stepping back and supporting areas where the private sector cannot operate."

However, the ruling party continued on-site rallies centered around the campaign leadership on this day. Song Young-gil, the standing campaign committee chairman, toured the Chungnam areas of Cheonan, Asan, Dangjin, and Hongseong throughout the day, while Jeong Se-gyun, the campaign advisory chairman, and Chu Mi-ae, honorary campaign chairwoman, conducted rallies from early afternoon in Seoul’s Jungnang District, Jongno, and Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province, respectively.

After the debate, each candidate plans to target difficult regions. Starting on the 22nd, Yoon will conduct a ‘West Coast Line Regional Rally’ touring Chungcheong, Jeonbuk, and Jeonnam provinces. Then, on the weekend of the 26th, he will board the ‘Passion Train’ to tour Gyeongbuk areas such as Pohang, Andong, and Jinju. Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party campaign headquarters, explained, "Last week, we toured major cities nationwide, and now we are targeting regional cities by area." Lee Jae-myung, Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party have not yet disclosed their rally locations for this week.

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