Fierce Debates Flare Up in Final TV Showdown Ahead of Democratic Party Convention

[Anchor]

The final TV debate was held today, August 12, just five days ahead of the Democratic Party's national convention. Ahead of the regional primaries in Honam, Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province this weekend, the three candidates engaged in a mudslinging battle.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

Five days ahead of the August 17 Democratic Party national convention, the final TV debate took place, hosted by SBS.

Candidate Kim Min-seok, who leads candidate Jung Cheong-rae by a cumulative vote margin of 1.45 percentage points, claimed that during the 2022 presidential election, Jung ruined the campaign by causing friction with the Buddhist community due to his so-called "Bongyi Kim Seondal" remarks.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: You ruined the presidential election. Why are you not apologizing for that? Isn't that what you call betrayal?]

Candidate Jung fired back by recalling Kim's defection from the party in 2002, labeling it as "betrayal."

[Jung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: Candidate Kim Min-seok, please relax your face. You betrayed President Roh Moo-hyun, left the party, and it seems you have a lot of trauma regarding that betrayal.]

Jung raised issues of accountability, pointing out that Kim was prime minister when the enforcement decree for single-stock leverage ETFs was resolved.

[Jung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: I have been repeatedly saying that I hope you would offer comfort to those who suffered heavy losses (due to the resolution of single-stock leverage ETFs) and make responsible remarks.]

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: I expressed regret and apologized again today. You seem to not remember what I said earlier, but I already did. Did I not also explain the course of events?]

Sharp expressions such as "cartel" and "political maneuvering" were also hurled back and forth.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: (Among the pro-Jung faction), under the guise of being progressive, it is like a cartel operating around the party, and I think it is time to put an end to this.]

[Jung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: (Candidate Kim Min-seok) seems very accustomed to moving beyond conspiracy theories into the realm of political maneuvering under the guise of questioning.]

A debate also unfolded between candidates Song Young-gil and Jung regarding the national policy tasks of the Lee Jae-myung administration.

[Song Young-gil / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: (The Lee Jae-myung administration's first national task) being the end of internal rebellion is more like the number one pledge of the Rebuilding Korea Party. I cannot help but think that (Candidate Jung Cheong-rae) was mentally too inclined toward the Rebuilding Korea Party.]

[Jung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: Let me ask you right now. Then what is national policy task number 50? (Pardon?) What is national policy task number 50?]

The Democratic Party will hold regional primaries in Honam on August 15 and in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province on August 16, followed by the national convention on August 17, where the final leader will be determined based on total votes including a 30% public opinion poll.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

Reported by Go Jeong-hyeon | Video by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.