Yoon Seok-yeol's 2-Minute Silence Due to Prompter Malfunction
Ruling Party's Fierce Criticism: "He Can't Say a Word Without the Prompter... Truly Pitiful"
Yoon's Side: "It's Common Sense to Wait for Organizer's Guidance in Unexpected Situations"
Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is presenting the national future vision at TV Chosun's 'Global Leaders Forum 2021' held on the 22nd at Grand Walkerhill Seoul in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The campaign team of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, explained that it was "common sense and natural to wait for the host's guidance on how to proceed in an unexpected situation" regarding Yoon's inability to speak for two minutes due to a prompter malfunction during his live keynote speech.
Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, issued a statement on the 22nd saying, "At today's forum, the host's complete technical error caused a temporary disruption during Yoon Seok-yeol's presentation of the national future vision."
The chief spokesperson said, "The prompter did not work during Yoon's speech, and the candidate waited for it to be restored without knowing the reason," adding, "However, the Democratic Party is attacking Yoon personally over this situation and politically exploiting it."
He continued, "The claim that someone invited to the event should take responsibility and resolve the issue caused by a technical error in the live broadcast is simply unreasonable," and criticized, "It is regrettable that our political reality distorts even such incidents and uses them for election campaigns."
Earlier, Yoon attended the TV Chosun 'Global Leaders Forum 2021' held at a hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, and gave a keynote speech, but the prompter did not function properly, causing him to wait for about two minutes. After the prompter started working, Yoon began his speech and was seen checking the prompter throughout.
In response, the Democratic Party launched criticism targeting Yoon's 'silence.' On the same day, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk posted on his Facebook titled "Unprepared Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol," saying, "It is very concerning whether a candidate who cannot say a single word without a prepared script can properly manage state affairs," and added, "Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung reportedly spoke his usual thoughts and vision for 10 minutes without a prompter. There is a clear difference from a candidate who cannot say a word without a script."
Baek Hye-ryun, a senior member of the Democratic Party, shared a related article on her Facebook, stating, "It's surprising that someone who cannot give a speech without a prompter is a presidential candidate," and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hee also said on Facebook, "Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol cannot say a word without a prompter. It's really pitiful."
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