End of photo, ‘Democratic Party candidates, Lee Jae-myung (from left), Kim Ji-soo, and Kim Du-kwan are taking a commemorative photo before the start of a debate at KBS in Yeouido, Seoul, on the evening of the 24th. /Yonhap News‘
Democratic Party presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Kim Du-kwan continued their confrontation on issues such as challenging Lee for re-election and tax system reform in the second debate held on the night of the 24th.
In the debate hosted by KBS on that day, Kim, who has criticized the “emperor-like leadership” of Lee’s administration, said, “There is no future for a quasi-monarchic representative,” and emphasized that our party has won when the party’s will and the people’s will align. Kim expressed his doubts about how the party can win in local elections and presidential elections with this candidate’s leadership. He raised concerns that the candidate’s leadership could prevent the middle class from joining our party.
Last weekend, at a joint election rally, Kim pointed out the participation of top candidate members in personal branding and appearances on the candidate’s YouTube channel, saying, “There were candidates who said they would become Lee’s chief defense attorney and master planner for Lee’s presidency.” Kim questioned the other candidates’ stance on serving as Lee’s bodyguards. Lee responded by saying, “The top candidate members are not doing this as a means to win over party members and the public, and there is no way that I would lose votes if someone says ‘talking about Lee Jae-myung will cost you votes.'”
When Lee mentioned that Kim might find it uncomfortable, Kim replied, “It’s not personally uncomfortable for me, it’s uncomfortable for the party’s future.” Lee expressed his desire for many people to support the party and emphasized that diversity would be beneficial, although it should not be artificially manipulated.
The two candidates also presented differing views on the recent controversy within the party over easing comprehensive real estate taxes and deferring financial investment income taxes.
Kim stated, “I was surprised when this candidate, who said at the press conference for candidacy for party leader that ‘economic pragmatism’ is the most important thing, talked about tax reductions that benefit the rich such as easing comprehensive real estate taxes and deferring financial investment income taxes.”
Lee responded, “Taxation is a means to secure national revenues, not a means to punish individuals,” and he acknowledged the reality of the backlash against this. He suggested significantly relaxing taxes on owner-occupied single homes and balancing by raising taxes on land, fields, and buildings, among others.
Lee also mentioned that the stock market unfairly burdens individual investors, suggesting the need to review issues including delaying losses due to stock market manipulation, crisis on the Korean Peninsula, and the lack of future economic policies.
Regarding party reform plans, Kim emphasized that “It is most important to clearly reform the nomination system,” questioning the lack of clear explanations for reasons given for exclusion in the last nomination round.
Lee stated, “The path we should take is to become a democratic party centered on the party members,” and Kim Ji-soo, who ran for candidacy with a focus on youth politics, said, “I will create the Next Lee Jae-myung and Little Kim Du-kwan,” and added, “I will develop politicians like former presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in by creating a space for intense learning and debate among political talents.”