Lee Junseok: "Party Constitution Changed After First Trial Guilty Verdict"
Lee Jaemyung: "Reform New Party Took Compulsory Measures Against Heo Euna"
On May 27, Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, criticized Lee Jaemyung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "It has been a long time since people started saying that internal party democracy has disappeared when looking at how the Democratic Party is run," and criticized the revision of the Democratic Party's party constitution. Candidate Lee Jaemyung responded by raising the issue of former lawmakers Heo Euna and Kim Yongnam leaving the Reform New Party.
On May 27, during the third debate for the 20th presidential election held at the MBC Media Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul, candidate Lee Junseok pointed out, "According to Article 80 of the Democratic Party's constitution, if there are various criminal charges, party positions are to be suspended upon indictment, but they changed that, and as soon as candidate Lee Jaemyung was found guilty in the first trial, Article 80 was deleted."
He continued, "They are arbitrarily changing the party constitution, which is the basis for the party's existence," and added, "It seems candidate Lee Jaemyung lacks an understanding of the party's legal system, given that such provisions were removed when he was found guilty. In the future, do you intend to recuse yourself from handling laws or constitutional amendments related to yourself?"
In response, Lee Jaemyung said, "The Democratic Party has changed into a member-centered democratic party to an extent unprecedented in history," and added, "By becoming a strong and capable party, we achieved the greatest opposition party victory in the history of Korean politics and became the most powerful party ready to take power."
After mentioning the recent internal strife within the Reform New Party, candidate Lee Jaemyung further criticized, "Didn't the Reform New Party take compulsory measures against Representative Heo Euna? Isn't Kim Yongnam also a member of the Reform New Party?" and added, "There were also reports of corruption charges related to the use of party funds. I hope you look into those matters as well."
In response, candidate Lee Junseok countered, "If you think so highly of Heo Euna and Kim Yongnam, let me read what Heo Euna said about candidate Lee Jaemyung: 'A populist who buys votes, Korea's Chavez.' Kim Yongnam said about candidate Lee Jaemyung, 'He is not even qualified to be the mayor of Seongnam, let alone president. If he bought Hwengseong Hanwoo beef, which is tastier than regular Hanwoo, with Gyeonggi Province residents' tax money, he should pay the price for his crime.'"
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