Ahn Criticizes Stock Short Selling Ban and Conscription System
Ryu "It's a Pledge to Become President"
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Hong Jun-pyo, a member of the People Power Party and a presidential candidate, and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min faced off in a one-on-one debate. While Yoo took an 'offensive' stance and Hong remained 'defensive,' Hong, cornered on the back foot, repeatedly avoided direct answers by saying, "I will consider it if I become president."
On the 29th, Hong and Yoo engaged in a heated debate on various topics during the 'People Power Party Presidential Primary Candidates TV Debate' one-on-one match held in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
Although the debate was in a free discussion format, the atmosphere shifted toward Yoo scrutinizing Hong's pledges.
First, the debate continued over the pledge to abolish short selling in the stock market, which had sparked heated exchanges in previous debates. When Yoo asked, "Is a complete abolition the right approach?" Hong replied, "We are moving toward complete abolition." Yoo then questioned, "What if the stock market shakes and stock prices plummet, and foreign institutional investors demand the revival of short selling?" Hong responded, "We need to reconsider depending on the situation," adding, "We still don't know whether the stock market will stabilize or if it will better protect individual investors in Korea."
However, Yoo countered, "Since the global market functions as one market, I believe it will cause a significant shock," and said, "Completely abolishing short selling is a very risky idea." Hong took a softened stance, saying, "If signs of such side effects appear, complete abolition cannot be implemented."
The debate over the introduction of a volunteer military system also flared up again. Hong argued, "The volunteer military system is a global trend," while Yoo refuted, "That is not true." Yoo criticized the volunteer military system as "sending children from poor families to the military with taxes paid by wealthy families," calling it "unfair and unjust." Hong countered, "Currently, the military service period is short, and it is practically a 'shirking military.' Only interest soldiers are cared for, and troop strength is not increasing," adding, "We need to build a strong military centered on those who genuinely volunteer."
During this exchange, they also sparred over appointing each other as cabinet members if they became president. Hong said he would appoint Yoo as 'Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs,' while Yoo said he would appoint Hong as 'Minister of Justice.'
The debate also extended to Hong's pledge to completely abolish the early admission system. Yoo criticized, "If you make it 100% regular admissions, why attend high school?" and added, "You could just take the qualification exam, go to college early, attend academies, and memorize the CSAT thoroughly." Hong responded, "I believe the past system (during the main exam era) was fair," and said, "There was a time when universities admitted students based on the CSAT."
When Hong said, "Students will flock to the Gangnam 8 school districts," and added, "EBS will cover more than 70% of the questions," Yoo replied, "Then the remaining 30% will require going to academies to create differentiation." Hong laughed it off, saying, "I will review that after becoming president."
When Yoo pointed out, "You are making pledges to become president, but you say you will review them after becoming president?" Hong answered, "I have thought about it hard and organized my thoughts, but since Yoo says it won't work, I am saying I will reconsider."
Additionally, Yoo raised issues with Hong's 'quota apartment land leasehold' pledge. Yoo mentioned the land leasehold policy implemented in Seocho-gu and Gangnam-gu during the Lee Myung-bak administration, criticizing, "The surrounding sale price was 600 million won, and the land leasehold housing was sold for 200 million won, but over time, the market price became similar, so those who received land leasehold housing ended up like lottery winners." Hong countered, "If housing prices are lowered, all the surrounding houses will stabilize."
When Yoo continued to criticize it as an unfair 'lottery apartment,' Hong responded, "Is that the only unfair thing? All apartment prices now are unfair."
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