DP's Lee, PPP's Kim take aim at each other with dueling campaign proposals

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DP's Lee, PPP's Kim take aim at each other with dueling campaign proposals

Published: 22 May. 2025, 17:21 Updated: 22 May. 2025, 17:58

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Right: Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung speaks at a campaign rally in Jeju on May 22. Left: People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on the same day. [NEWS1]

The Korean presidential race heated up on Thursday as People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo and Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung took aim at each other with dueling proposals on political, economic and justice reform.

Speaking at a press conference at the PPP headquarters in Seoul, Kim reaffirmed his pledge to serve only three years in office if elected, positioning himself as a reformist willing to limit executive power.

Central to Kim’s proposal is a constitutional amendment that would reduce presidential terms to four years starting in 2028, with the option for one re-election.

While Lee has also endorsed similar structural reforms, his timeline pushes the implementation to 2030, highlighting a key divergence in their approaches to overhauling the Korean presidency.

Kim also promised to strip lawmakers of their immunity from arrest and called for a 10 percent reduction in the number of National Assembly members.

The move appears designed to remind the public of Lee’s five criminal indictments, none of which have yet resulted in any jail time for the DP candidate, who is also a legislator.

By contrast, Lee has called for more restraints on the powers of the state prosecution service, which he and other DP members argue is biased against liberals.

In a move aimed at restoring public trust in the judicial system, Kim proposed raising the legal qualifications for nominees to the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, both of which have come under unprecedented pressure from both major parties in recent months for their consequential rulings on Lee’s alleged violation of election law and former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

“Political interference in the courts has gone too far,” Kim said, framing the judiciary as an institution needing depoliticization.

People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, center, talks during a meeting with leaders of Korea’s five major business organizations at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung District, central Seoul, on May 22. [NEWS1]

PPP chief spokesperson Shin Dong-wook defended the reform package as a defining aspect of Kim’s candidacy.

“While Lee Jae-myung is striving to become an autocrat in all but name by taking control of all three branches of government, we are incorporating the people’s desire for change by choosing to reduce the executive branch’s privileges.”

Kim also laid out a detailed economic agenda later in the day at a meeting of his party’s election committee at the Korea Exchange.

He pledged to “boost the value of the country’s capital market by revitalizing it and increasing protections for shareholders.”

Promising to become a “president who attracts global investment” to Korea, Kim introduced a plan to stimulate stock market growth through tax relief — including reduced rates on dividend income and tax incentives for long-term investors.

He also took aim at a recent DP-backed proposal that would transfer budget planning authority away from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Kim dismissed the idea as “delusional, sugarcoated talk,” a remark reflecting the broader ideological and fiscal chasm between the two parties.

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, center, holds a campaign rally at Dongmun Market in Jeju on May 22. [YONHAP]

Later on Thursday, Kim met with leaders of Korea’s five major business organizations at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he discussed possible preemptive action and countermeasures to contain the economic fallout from the U.S.-led global trade conflict.

He also held campaign rallies in Gwangmyeong and Bucheon, Gyeonggi, which he represented in the National Assembly from 1996 to 2006.

Across the country in Jeju, Lee Jae-myung made his own sweeping promise — to eliminate the statute of limitations for crimes committed by the state against its citizens.

“Perpetrators of state violence will be liable for prosecution as long as they live,” he said, vowing to ensure that those responsible for historic injustices are held accountable.

Lee also said he would revise existing laws to allow victims and their descendants to pursue compensation from the heirs of agents of state violence.

Referencing the Democratic Party’s earlier attempt to pass similar legislation — which was blocked in January by then-acting President Choi Sang-mok — Lee declared, he “would sign this bill immediately if the National Assembly passes it.”

Lee’s choice of Jeju Island to announce his vow to punish perpetrators of state violence carries historical weight.

From April 1948 to May 1949, Korean police and paramilitary forces brutally suppressed a communist-led uprising on the island, killing thousands of civilians.

The violence, Lee noted, marked the “first use of martial law in the country,” drawing a pointed parallel to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s controversial and brief imposition of martial law in December last year.

Lee used the moment to frame his candidacy as a moral reckoning with the nation’s past.

“I will never neglect to take swift action to ensure that inhumane acts driven by petty greed for power and wealth will never happen again in Korea,” he said.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]