'Exchange with Lee Junseok' Kwon Youngguk Criticizes Attitude of Confronting the Weak

Mentioning Jeon Jangyeon and Dongduk Women's University Protests, Criticizing Lee Junseok
"Lee Junseok Only Talks About Conflict Situations Resulting from Outcomes"
On the Unification Debate, Points Out "This Is One of the Harms of Politics"

On May 23, during the second presidential candidate TV debate, Kwon Youngguk, the Democratic Labor Party candidate who had previously clashed with Lee Junseok, the Reform New Party candidate, over issues of hatred and conflict in politics, once again directly criticized Lee. Kwon stated, "I could not help but be outraged at whether the attitude of belittling and confronting the weak is truly the attitude of a politician." On May 26, Kwon appeared on BBS Radio's "Shin Inkyu's Morning Journal," where he criticized Representative Lee Junseok while mentioning the protests for mobility rights by the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeon Jangyeon) and the protest at Dongduk Women's University.

On the 23rd, during the second presidential candidate TV debate, Kwon Youngguk, the Democratic Labor Party candidate who had clashed with Lee Junseok, the Reform New Party candidate, over issues of hatred and conflict in politics, once again targeted Lee, saying, "I could not help but be outraged at whether the attitude of dramatizing the weak and confronting them is truly the attitude of a politician." Photo by Kim Hyunmin

Previously, during the second presidential candidate TV debate held on May 23, Kwon had engaged in a heated exchange with Lee Junseok on these issues. At the time, Kwon pointed out, "We must first ask why the protests are happening," and criticized Lee by saying, "Lee Junseok only talks about the conflicts that arise as a result." On this day as well, Kwon emphasized, "We should first try to understand why they are protesting," and further criticized, "Currently, candidate Lee Junseok only focuses on the results, only questioning 'who committed what illegality' after the fact." Regarding the Dongduk Women's University issue, Kwon argued, "There was no procedure for the school to listen to the students' opinions on the topic of transitioning to a coeducational system; the school simply pushed it through unilaterally," and claimed, "Democracy within Dongduk Women's University had essentially collapsed."

Kwon continued, "I have never seen candidate Lee Junseok address such issues," and claimed the same applies to the mobility rights struggle of Jeon Jangyeon. He strongly asserted, "Afterwards, when clashes occur during the protests, he simply frames those clashes as 'illegal,' which is truly unjust." In addition, regarding the unification debate between Kim Moonsoo of the People Power Party and Lee Junseok, Kwon emphasized, "This is one of the harms of politics."

On the 23rd, presidential candidates posed for a commemorative photo before the 2nd candidate debate for the 21st presidential election, hosted by the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission, held at the KBS headquarters studio in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. From the left, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party, Lee Jun-seok of the Reform New Party, and Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Labor Party. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers.

Furthermore, he criticized the discussion, saying, "Instead of competing with social visions or policies and seeking support or evaluation from the people, they are trying to solve everything simply by increasing their size." He concluded, "If this continues, policies and social visions or values will disappear, and in the end, it will just create a bigger player, forcing our citizens to make a choice," and stressed, "As a result, only two-party politics will remain, and the politics of how to actually change the lives of our people has always disappeared."

Meanwhile, Kwon, who was previously the leader of the Justice Party, was selected as the presidential candidate at the 'Social Transformation Solidarity Conference,' which includes the Justice Party, the Labor Party, the Green Party, and various labor and social movement organizations. The Justice Party changed its name to the Democratic Labor Party to reflect this selection process. Kwon is highlighting progressive agendas as the only candidate from a progressive party in this presidential election. Among his pledges, his first and foremost is 'resolving inequality through increased taxation.' He aims to break the cycle of inherited wealth by raising inheritance and gift taxes, with the top tax rate increased to 90 percent. He has also pledged to introduce a wealth tax based on net assets, and to implement financial investment income tax and virtual asset tax.