"Perverted Fantasy Novels" VS "Sexual Bribery Is Reality"... Heated Debate Among Youngest Ruling Party Candidates

Election Victory Strategy: Kim Garam "With West Coast Landing Operation"
Kim Jeongsik "Yoon Must Persuade the People on Three Major Reforms"

At the 3·8 People Power Party (PPP) Youth Supreme Councilor candidate debate held on the 27th, candidates clashed over a web novel written by pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) faction candidate Jang Ye-chan.

Candidate Lee Gi-in stated at the PPP Youth Supreme Councilor candidate broadcast debate held at ASSA Hall in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon, "The controversy surrounding the web novel written by candidate Jang is a piece containing perverted tendencies," adding, "It is disguised as a fantasy novel."

Candidate Jang previously worked as a web novel writer and wrote a novel titled Gangnam Hwata. The issue arose because the novel mentioned singer IU's real name and was accused of sexual objectification. Candidate Lee pointed out, "The names of the existing celebrity IU, Lee Ji-eun, were directly borrowed, and the lyrics of the song 'Good Day' sung by IU were also directly borrowed, specifying that person."

Lee continued, "A fantasy novel is not a privilege from liability," adding, "At that time, IU was a minor, so this is, in short, a Lee Jae-myung-style diversion. You should be ashamed and properly understand this."

People running for the Youth Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party are taking a commemorative photo on the 27th at a studio in Gangseo-gu before the broadcast debate. From the left, candidates Kim Garam, Kim Jeongsik, Lee Giin, and Jang Yechan. (Photo by Yonhap News)

In response, candidate Jang said, "I wrote a 100% fictional fantasy novel, and candidate Lee, who worships former party leader Lee Jun-seok like a cult leader, sent aides to cover up his own sexual bribery allegations and wrote a 700 million won promissory note in reality," adding, "Those who cannot speak about former leader Lee, who is currently under indictment for sexual bribery allegations, such as Cheon Ha-ram, Heo Eun-ah, Kim Yong-tae, and Lee Gi-in, are applying moral standards to a 100% fictional fantasy novel."

As the dispute between the two sides intensified, other youth supreme councilor candidates stepped in to mediate. Candidate Kim Ga-ram said, "I understand both of your positions, but candidate Jang, who represents our party, needs to humbly accept the overly sensational parts, and it is also undesirable to create controversy based on reports from pro-Democratic Party media."

However, candidate Jang also launched an attack on candidate Lee. Referring to former leader Lee Jun-seok, who supports candidate Lee, Jang retorted, "Since starting his political activities, Lee Jun-seok said he respected Lee Jung-hee, former leader of the Unified Progressive Party, the most, and said Kim Eo-jun's 'Na Ggom-su' contributed to political development, but I have never seen any article where he changed his stance or officially apologized."

Jang then brought up candidate Lee's remark calling Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who gained fame as the 'Daejang-dong top instructor' during the last presidential election, a 'knockoff,' pointing out, "Mocking and ridiculing is the problem with Lee Jun-seok-style politics." Candidate Lee earned the nickname 'Lee Jae-myung sniper' while investigating the 'Daejang-dong scandal' of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, during his time as a Seongnam city councilor.

The youth supreme councilor candidates also each proposed ways to secure victory in next year's general election. Candidate Lee emphasized, "For the general election to go well, the nomination process must be fair," adding, "I believe the quota system blocks capable and young politicians from entering, so we need to create a fair competition ground with established politicians and eradicate the practice of pushing young people into all kinds of difficult districts under the guise of 'Future Maker.'"

Candidate Jang said, "United we live, divided we die. We need a party-government integrated leadership that is committed to the success of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration," adding, "The pledges that received support during the presidential election are not something that cannot be done because the Democratic Party is holding us back; we need the will to carry them out through fighting power."

Kim Ga-ram, from the Honam region, explained, "Next year's general election is a battle over who will reclaim the metropolitan area. If the tide turned with the Incheon landing operation during the Korean War, this time it should be the West Coast landing operation," adding, "We need to concentrate maximum firepower on the West Coast as soon as the party convention ends."

Candidate Kim Jeong-sik said, "We need to persuade the public about the three major reforms of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration," adding, "We were only busy blocking the pro-Japanese party and the rich party, but now is the transition period where we need to switch to an offensive."

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