Lee Jae-myung "Military provocations negatively affecting the presidential election... Strong regret"
Yoon Seok-yeol "Government only repeats 'concern' and 'regret' over North Korean provocations... Democratic Party government's 'peace process' has miserably failed"
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] In response to North Korea's missile launch news, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed a stronger stance than the government by stating "strong regret," while Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, criticized the repeated expressions of 'regret' by the government and the Democratic Party, saying, "Peace is not something to be shouted but to be protected."
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, are attending the Local Autonomy Awards and Korea Regional Development Awards ceremony hosted by the Korea Local Newspaper Association at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 27th, participating in the national ceremony. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group
On the afternoon of the 27th, Lee, who visited Malbau Market in Gwangju, responded to reporters' questions about North Korea's short-range ballistic missile launch by saying, "There has never been a precedent of North Korea launching multiple missiles in January like this," and criticized, "It is having a very bad influence on the presidential election, raising suspicions that it is intended to affect South Korea's internal affairs."
He stated, "I express strong regret and condemnation," and added, "In the ongoing election situation, such military provocations that can influence South Korean politics should be restrained as it would also help stabilize the Korean Peninsula."
The Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee Peace and Prosperity Committee also issued a statement that day, saying, "North Korea's actions are not only unhelpful in resolving problems but are wrong acts that harm peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and we strongly condemn them."
They continued, "We cannot help but point out that North Korea's threatening actions are repeatedly occurring during the election period, and recently, through propaganda media, they have blatantly shown movements to interfere in our presidential election, which we sternly warn against."
On the other hand, Yoon criticized the government and the Democratic Party's attitude of only repeating words like 'concern' and 'regret' regarding North Korea's missile provocations.
On the afternoon of the same day, Yoon posted on Facebook, "Peace is not something to be shouted but to be protected," criticizing in this way.
He said, "Since the beginning of this year, North Korea has continued provocations about every 4 to 5 days, but our government only repeats words like 'concern' and 'regret,'" and sharply criticized, "The Democratic Party government's 'peace process' has miserably failed." He added, "The price of 'disguised peace' is six missile launches in the new year," and said, "The public is furious at the government's submissive attitude." He also added, "Security is a harsh reality," and "Peace does not come just by shouting. Peace is what we protect."
He then emphasized, "I will neutralize North Korea's will to provoke based on overwhelming power," and "I will safely protect the lives and property of the people."
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