Lee Jae-myung in Gyeongju: "Unanimous Silla 'Hwabaek Council' was Great... Let's Pursue Unified Politics"

Appeal to Ahn and Shim for "Real Political Change with a Third Choice"
Targeting Yoon: "You Need the Head to Choose Someone You Know Well"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Ki-min Lee and Young-won Kim] On the 28th, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned the Hwabakhoe, the unanimous decision-making system of the ancient Silla kingdom, in Gyeongju, the former capital of Silla, and said, "Let's practice politics of integration."

During a campaign event on Hwangridan-gil in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Lee said, "Isn't Gyeongju the starting point where political decisions were made based on unanimous consent? Here, where our ancestors are enshrined, there is also a site related to Alpyungseon (the progenitor of the Gyeongju Lee clan) where the Hwabakhoe was held. It was truly a great system. It was politics of integration," adding, "The current two-party system in our country, where you have to choose one of the two, has problems."

By referring to the Hwabakhoe, a unanimous consensus assembly of Silla nobles, Lee reiterated his commitment to political reform for an integrated government.

He continued, "In fact, in this region of North Gyeongsang Province, most people just blindly choose a specific party, and in Honam, they also blindly choose a specific party. What about the metropolitan area? It's always one of the two major parties," and said, "Structurally, there should be a possibility for a third choice so that the two can compete to do better," adding, "Since you can only choose one of the two, people end up choosing the lesser evil, thinking 'I'm less bad and the other is worse.'"

He then said, "Let's not engage in politics that invite failure. Let's practice politics of integration. Let's have a real political change where a third choice is possible," and added, "This is Lee Jae-myung's claim, Ahn Cheol-soo's dream, and Shim Sang-jung's hope. (Therefore) finally, last night, the Democratic Party made that promise its party stance," once again sending a love call to minor parties.

Lee especially emphasized, "To enable national integration, good policies should be used regardless of left or right," saying, "What does it matter if it's Park Chung-hee's or Kim Dae-jung's policy? If it's good, use it."

He continued, "Whether a person is blue, red, yellow, or gray, what does it matter? If they have ability, place them in the right position to produce results, and later be evaluated. If the country advances and people's lives improve, the president will be praised," emphasizing, "Let's courageously and boldly practice integrated politics without dividing by factions."

He repeatedly criticized Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party candidate, on security and economic issues. Lee said, "As the nation's highest leader, the CEO of a company, and the head of a household, the final person responsible, capability, wisdom, courage, and drive are important," adding, "The person in command must have capability. Even if the commander doesn't know, they can choose and use people who do, but to choose and use them, you need to have the brains to do so."

He particularly stressed, "To revive our economy, politics must be stable, but we shouldn't fight over political disputes or political retaliation," and said, "Some people like winning wars, but after everything is destroyed and people are dead, what use is it that we won? Winning without fighting is true skill."

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