Did the ruling party feel the criticism... Yoo Seung-min calls Lee Jae-myung's remarks ignorant

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, who had been raising his voice in criticism of President Yoon Seok-yeol and the 'Yun Hae-gwan' faction for consecutive days, criticized Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 13th for his remarks related to national defense, calling them "ignorant and extremely dangerous statements." This is interpreted as being conscious of criticism within the party, referred to as 'internal shooting.'

On the same day, former lawmaker Yoo said through social networking services (SNS), "While spending more than ten times the defense budget of North Korea, Lee does not see the reality that we are powerless against North Korea's nuclear threat."

Regarding Lee's statement at the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting the previous day, where he said, "Can a country with the world's sixth-largest military power say that joint military exercises with the U.S. and Japan are inevitable?" Yoo pointed out, "To borrow Lee's crude words, it means 'No need for pro-Japanese defense or pro-American defense; we can handle North Korea on our own.' It is an ignorant and extremely dangerous statement that shows he does not even know the basics of national defense."

He added, "The fact that South Korea's military power ranks sixth in the world is only based on conventional military strength, population, and defense budget," and said, "It is meaningless to compare only conventional military power while excluding asymmetric forces such as North Korea's nuclear weapons, which pose a fatal threat to our security."

Former lawmaker Yoo asked, "Lee, who opposes THAAD while watching North Korea and China, and also opposes nuclear missile defense drills, how will you protect the lives of the people if North Korea attacks us with nuclear weapons?"

Yoo's pointed criticism of Lee's remarks appears to be conscious of recent critical public opinion within the party. While Yoo took a stance against President Yoon and Emergency Response Committee Chairman Jeong Jin-seok's remarks, candidates for party leadership such as Kim Ki-hyun and Yoon Sang-hyun criticized him, and former lawmaker Kim Jae-won called it "internal shooting" on TBS Radio's 'Shin Jang-sik's Shin Jang Open.' Lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom also directly said, "Yoo Seung-min counterattacks after attacking Lee Jae-myung."

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