View larger image “Is there or isn’t there? “Why can’t you answer?” (Lee Jun-seok, candidate for the New Reform Party)
“I will not respond to each and every one of your attempts to ‘bite my tail.’ Why do I keep talking about that… .” (Gong Young-woon, Democratic Party candidate)
On the 2nd, the two faced each other at the Gyeonggi Hwaseong general election candidate debate held on CBS Radio. Candidate Lee Jun-seok’s ‘sword’ digging into the fact that candidate Gong Young-woon’s daughter owns real estate in a redevelopment area in Seongsu-dong, Seoul clashed with candidate Gong’s ‘shield’ trying to escape.
With the start of the official election campaign on the 28th of last month, candidate debates are being held in 254 constituencies. Discussions took place in various areas, from verification of candidate qualifications to content of pledges.
The weight of the candidate debate
Candidate Lee and Candidate Gong continued their battle for 14 minutes over Candidate Gong’s daughter’s real estate holdings. This is because Candidate Gong avoided confirmation in response to Candidate Lee’s request to confirm whether he owned redeveloped housing in Seongsu-dong. This lies in the special nature of election debates.
Unlike general debates, comments made during general election candidate debates are subject to punishment under the Public Official Election Act. This is because if you tell a story that is different from the facts, it will be classified as ‘spreading false information during the election period.’ A representative example is the case of Lee Jae-myeong, the leader of the Democratic Party, who was accused of denying the order for his brother to be forcibly admitted to a mental hospital during the 2018 Gyeonggi gubernatorial election debate, and which led to a two-year legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court.
However, if you obediently admit your weaknesses, it can have a negative impact on the public opinion. Candidate Gong, who continued to avoid Candidate Lee’s attacks, eventually said, “My daughter is a dual-income couple and they recently bought a house with a loan. He acknowledged owning a home, saying, “There are no legal problems.”
In Hongseong and Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, the candidates participating in the debate actually exchanged accusations and accusations. People Power Party candidate Kang Seung-gyu and Democratic Party candidate Yang Seung-jo faced off over the content of the debate held on the 30th of last month. At the debate, Candidate Kang said, “Candidate Seung-jo Yang decided to (locate) the International Convention Center, which was originally supposed to be located in Naepo New Town in Hongseong, to Cheonan (when he was governor of South Chungcheong Province).” In response, Candidate Yang accused Candidate Kang of publishing false facts, saying that the statement in question was not true, and Candidate Kang counter-sued Candidate Yang with false accusations.
The topics of discussion are endless.
In Seoul Middle School and Seongdong-gap, where female candidates faced each other, People Power Party candidate Yoon Hee-sook and Democratic Party candidate Jeon Hyun-hee brought up all of their past controversies and argued. At a debate held on the 29th of last month, Candidate Yoon criticized Jeon, saying, “The head of the agency made a habit of showing up late to work,” based on a report from the Board of Audit and Inspection that pointed out the former candidate’s attendance while he was chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.
In response, the former candidate responded that it was “obviously false” and that “you will have to take responsibility.” Candidate Jeon also went on the offensive over suspicions that Candidate Yoon’s father had violated the Farmland Act in the past. Candidate Jeon attacked, saying, “When farmland suspicions arose, he resigned from his position as a member of the National Assembly, and as a result, he wasted people’s tax money by holding a by-election.” Regarding this, Candidate Yoon said, “I will repeatedly say that I am sorry until I die.”
In Tongyeong and Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province, candidates discussed the policies they pursued as members of the National Assembly and mayor, respectively. Democratic Party candidate Kang Seok-ju criticized People Power Party candidate Jeong Jeong-sik’s pledge, saying, “This is already the third promise to install a marine cable car,” and “What role did you play during your re-election?”
Candidate Chung countered by citing Candidate Kang’s administration during his term as mayor of Tongyeong, saying, “When I was mayor of Tongyeong, I spent a lot of money on opening the Tongyeong International Triennale, but it failed due to lack of budget, lack of publicity, and indifference from the cultural community.”
Reporter Kim Jong-woo jongwoo@hankyung.com
