Week 14

3 candidates face off in first debate

Article from Joongangdaily.com
http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2963450

Summary:

On Tuesday the three major presidential candidates engage in the first televised debate organized by the National Election Commission. The debate is widely expected to become a critical turning point in the run-up to the election on December 19. They discuss about domestic issues, foreign affairs, national security and unification. The biggest contrasts was about North Korea. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party was conservative on North Korea, saying that "trust building" between the North and South was needed. She said there were no conditions for talks or humanitarian aid, and that a summit was possible. Moon said he would follow through with the agreement reached in 2007 after a summit. Lee blamed the Lee Myung-bak government for bad relations between the two Koreas. Also, she didn't hide her animosity toward Park. She said that her goal was to stop the Saenuri Party from winning power again and vowed to win the election for the sake of the country's workers.

Opinion:

I think Lee was very rude to Park on this debate. Even though Park is not an innocent person, it was inappropriate to make remarks about Park's negatives on the debate. She actually does not stand for winning, but using her opportunity to tear down Park Geun-hye. The candidates' purpoes in the debate is to put their party's ideology before the Korean public so that the people can know their positions on issues. However, Lee was there just for the sole purpose of making Park lose the election. She should have spent much of her time thinking about good governance, liberty, and improved economic conditions for all. I am curious about how well the three will fare in the next debate on economic issues next Monday.