DP LEADER CANDIDATES HOLD DEBATE

[Anchor Lead]

Three candidates for the Democratic Party leader election held their first TV debate yesterday. Leading candidate Lee Jae-myung, who will most probably come out a winner, was the target of Park Yong-jin and Kang Hoon-sik's criticism and attack.

[Pkg]

Lee Jae-myung was targeted from the start of the debate. Park Yong-jin and Kang Hoon-sik, who were both born in the 1970s and went to college during the 90s, launched joint attacks. Park took issue with Lee Jae-myung's comment that "uneducated and low-income people largely support the People Power Party, because of the media environment.“

[Soundbite] Park Yong-jin(DP Leader Election Candidate) : "I feel that Lee's comment indicates he blames other people and that his ideas stand against my reform ideas."

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Leader Election Candidate) : "I was simply expressing my disappointment. I hope you don't blow my comment out of proportion and misunderstand me."

Kang Hoon-sik criticized Lee's proposal to make a platform where people can curse at lawmakers.

[Soundbite] Kang Hoon-sik(DP Leader Election Candidate) : "It's only right to operate democracy and our political party by not blocking the opinions of minorities but by bringing majority opinions together while respecting minority opinions."

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Leader Election Candidate) : "I was stressing free and open communication."

Lee was attacked for the suspicion of so-called "self nomination." He had allegedly demanded former DP Emergency Committee chair Park Ji-hyun nominate him for the by-election in Incheon.

[Soundbite] Park Yong-jin(DP Leader Election Candidate) : "You said the party called you to run for the Gyeyang B Dist. and that you made a difficult decision. But it was a political double play."

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Leader Election Candidate) : "I don't have the authority to nominate so it can't be a self-nomination. But it's true that I spoke up my mind during the nomination process."

For the DP's future vision, Lee proposed "competence and innovation" while Park pitched "a winning political party that wins in tough areas" and Kang "a young authoritative party." The main opposition bloc plans to hold nine rounds of candidate debates all over the country, starting with the one in the Gangwon region.