The campaign of Song Young-gil, a Democratic Party of Korea candidate for party leader, sharply criticized the KBC Gwangju Broadcasting debate held Tuesday, saying rival candidate Jung Chung-rae displayed what it called "Yoon Suk Yeol-style debating" — giving evasive, non-responsive answers and turning accusations back on his questioner.
In a statement released Tuesday, Song's campaign spokesperson team said Jung "revealed problems on two fronts — competence and conduct — during Song's designated questioning segment."
According to the camp, Song cited a past interview in which Jung had argued that the first year of a party leader's term was critical, and asked why Jung — who had previously chosen a one-year term — was now seeking re-election as party leader. Jung responded by turning the question back on Song, asking why Song himself was running again having already served two terms as party leader. When Song pressed Jung to answer the original question, Jung curtly replied, "I'm running because I have things to do," then continued with remarks unrelated to the question.
During Song's questioning segment, Jung also brought up candidate Kim Min-seok's past departure from the party and old statements — matters unrelated to the question at hand — and continued his criticism even after Song repeatedly asked him to address the question, the camp said.
Song's camp also raised questions about Jung's grasp of policy, pointing to an exchange over the Lee Jae Myung government's policy agenda. When Song asked how many policy priorities the Lee government had set and what the top priority was, Jung said he believed "insurrection eradication" was the No. 1 priority. Song corrected him, saying the government has 123 policy priorities and that the official No. 1 is "enshrining the spirit of May 18 in the Constitution."
The camp said Jung's answer showed he was unprepared. "The 'insurrection eradication' Jung cited is a moral imperative, not an item in the policy agenda," the camp said. Jung's apparent ignorance of an agenda developed through party-government consultations was "a display of unpreparedness unbecoming of someone who served a full year as party leader," it added.
The camp went further, saying Jung's conduct amounted to rule-breaking throughout the debate. "Throwing his own questions during the opponent's designated questioning time, deflecting with attacks on candidate Kim Min-seok instead of answering, and then trying to distort the question after giving a wrong answer — these are all fouls," the camp said. "They call to mind what we used to see from former President Yoon Suk Yeol."
The camp closed by expressing hope that Jung would change course. "We expect that in the remaining debates, he will engage with sincere answers and a gentlemanly attitude befitting the Democratic Party, and not leave Honam party members disappointed," it said.
mkkang@heraldcorp.com
