Yoon Declares "War on Sex Crimes"... Democratic Party Demands "People Power Party Apologize for Sex Crime Allegations First"

"Safe South Korea for Women"... Yoon's Short Pledge via SNS
Ruling Party Criticizes "No Sincerity Evident to Anyone"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is appealing for support at a campaign rally held in front of Hyundai Department Store Sinchon U-Plex in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 1st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, declared a war against sexual crimes on the 2nd and pledged to create a safe South Korea for women. Having actively targeted the votes of 'I-dae-nam' (men in their 20s) so far, Yoon has now put policy messages aimed at women at the forefront. In response, the ruling party criticized, "First apologize for the People Power Party's sexual crime allegations."

On the same day, Yoon posted a brief message on his Facebook saying, "A safe South Korea for women, declaration of war against sexual crimes."

Earlier, in January, Yoon announced pledges such as the "abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family" and "strengthening punishment for false accusations," which received great support mainly from I-dae-nam. However, as the tight race with Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate, continues, it is interpreted that he has started to target female voters.

Regarding this, the Democratic Party criticized, "Yoon, who remains silent on the People Power Party's sexual crime allegations and does not even apologize for the assault on female protesters at campaign venues, is making such pledges, which is outrageous."

Baek Hye-ryun, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party's election campaign committee, said at a briefing at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, in the afternoon, "A secretary to Assemblyman Kwon Seong-dong, who served as the message team leader of the election campaign headquarters, is under investigation for illegal filming charges. A lawyer from the legal advisory committee has been sued for sexual assault of an employee," adding, "However, Yoon and the People Power Party are only busy scapegoating. They have taken no measures nor apologized."

Photo by Yoon Seok-yeol, Facebook screen capture of the People Power Party presidential candidate.

She continued, "And yet, they make a two-line pledge. Anyone can see there is no sincerity. Not only did they mock all women in South Korea with the one-line pledge to 'abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,' but now they talk about 'a safe South Korea for women, declaration of war against sexual crimes'."

She also said, "If they want to claim sincerity, I hope Yoon Seok-yeol's campaign headquarters will take firm action on sexual crimes first," adding, "They should apologize to the victims and clearly answer how they will handle sexual offenders within the party's discipline in the future."

Meanwhile, the Justice Party also condemned, saying, "Yoon's awareness of women's rights is as short as the length of his 10-character pledge."

Hong Ju-hee, youth spokesperson for the Justice Party's election campaign headquarters, said in a written briefing, "It seems he really regrets losing female votes. He kept shouting 'There is no structural gender discrimination' and 'abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,' but now, with only one week left until the election day, he is turning to women?"

She added, "Yoon's awareness of women's rights is as short as the length of his 10-character short message, which is deplorable," and said, "There can be no compromise between discrimination and equality. We cannot entrust the safety and future of our community to Yoon, who hates and discriminates against half of the world’s population, women."

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