ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN FULL SWING

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Lee Jae-myung met with CEOs of the nation’s top ten business groups and asked them to hire more young people. Yoon Suk-yeol announed a new campaign pledge, promisng to help correct unfair practices in the gaming market. On Janruary 13, Lee visited an aged, to-be-reconstructed apartment, while Yoon attended a policy debate.

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Since unveiling his goal to help the nation join the ranks of the world’s top five powerhouses two days ago, Lee Jae-myung continued to focus on economic and growth issues. As part of the move, the ruling party presidential candidate unveiled a plan to foster ten key industries, including semiconductors and secondary cells.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Pres. Candidate) : "I will help the nation advance to the age of achieving exports of USD 1 tn, a national income of 50,000 dollars and becoming one of the world’s five powers."

In a meeting with CEOs of top ten business groups, he supported more extensive deregulation and asked corporations to fulfill their social roles.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Pres. Candidate) : "I am asking to hire more young people."

In a news conference, Lee strongly denounced North Korea’s missile tests, calling it a provocation. He then called on Yoon Suk-yeol to retract his remarks backing a preemptive strike as an option to deal with the regime’s nuclear provocations. Lee said the main opposition candidate’s opinion can be seen as a declaration of war. On Thursday, he visited an aged apartment in Nowon-gu District in northern Seoul and held discussions with residents on easing regulations for reconstruction of worn-out apartments. Regarding the ruling camp’s harsh criticism for his “preemptive strike” remarks, Yoon Suk-yeol explained that it is part of a three-stage system to respond to Pyongyang’s provocations. He also continued campaigning to appeal to men in their 20s. Yoon visited an e-sport gaming center with party head Lee Jun-seok and promised to set up an agency tasked with investigating online gaming fraud. He also vowed to require gaming companies to fully disclose the probability of their stochastic items.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(PPP Pres. Candidate) : "It is necessary to change the biased views that see gaming as a disorder."

Yoon highlighted the Daejang-dong development scandal in a visit to Gyeonggi-do Province, the political hometown of Lee Jae-myung.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(PPP Pres. Candidate) : "Gyeonggi-do Prov. of Lee Jae-myung, Seongnam of Lee Jae-myung have become a hotbed of corruption."

As campaign pledges tailored for the province, he unveiled plans to promote the reconstruction of aged apartments in Ilsan and Bundang and build a high-tech industrial complex. The main opposition candidate attended a debate hosted by associations for public administration and policy studies.