Kim Nam-guk: "Lee Jun-seok's Debate Style is Like 'Saojeong'... Will He Act as an Interviewer?"

"A Story That Completely Sidesteps the Issue or Avoids the Answer"

Kim Nam-guk, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Kim Namguk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly criticized Lee Junseok, leader of the People Power Party, for his debate style, saying it was "like Sa-o-jeong" and asked, "Can he be a debate interviewer?" Earlier, Lee had announced plans to select party officials through qualification tests such as debate battles.

On the 22nd, Kim wrote on his Facebook, criticizing Lee's debate style by saying, "He frequently talks completely off-topic or changes the subject entirely to avoid answering," adding, "Naturally, the discussion does not progress and just gets completely stuck."

The flawed debate style Kim pointed out was during the heated exchange between Lee and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung on the 20th.

At that time, Governor Lee pointed out on Facebook, "According to the book written by Leader Lee, youth allowances or old-age pensions are unfair because they benefit only specific groups," and added, "On the other hand, universal allowances given to the entire population are not subject to fairness disputes, so he supports basic income. According to this logic, wouldn't selective disaster relief payments also not violate fairness?"

He continued, "Basic income is Article 1, Clause 1 of the People Power Party’s platform," and demanded a clear stance from Lee on basic income, saying, "Yet, People Power Party members attack basic income by advocating for guaranteed income and fair income that selectively support only low-income earners."

In response to Governor Lee’s inquiry, Lee replied the next day (21st), "Lee Junseok’s basic income, which unifies other welfare systems into one payment, is different from Lee Jae-myung’s basic income, which gives separate and additional payments."

Lee Jun-seok, Leader of the People Power Party / Photo by Yonhap News

He added, "Disaster relief payments have shown limitations in stimulating consumption. Please continue to pressure the Democratic Party to retroactively apply compensation for losses to small business owners to increase support for those truly struggling."

Regarding this, Kim said, "This is a completely off-topic and irrelevant story," and criticized, "According to Lee’s logic, 'selective' is unfair and 'universal' has no fairness disputes and is desirable. Based on this belief, the question about guaranteed income and fair income was asked." This is a criticism that Lee’s answer was off-point from Governor Lee’s question and argument.

He added, "Governor Lee asked whether he supports and intends to promote basic income, which is Article 1, Clause 1 of the People Power Party’s platform," and said, "Please read calmly and respond appropriately to the point."

Meanwhile, during the recent People Power Party leadership race, Lee had announced a unique pledge to introduce a qualification test system for selecting party officials. As part of the competitive selection system, he introduced measures such as requiring all public election candidates to meet qualifications similar to the National Competency Standards (NCS) and holding 2:2 team debate battles on presidential candidate topics.

The People Power Party announced on the 15th that it would hold a public audition to select the party spokesperson. Applications were accepted from the 20th to the 22nd, and among the applicants, 100 were selected to proceed through a video interview with Lee, starting from the round of 16.