ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN FULL SWING

[Anchor Lead]

Lee Jae-myung continues to mention political retaliation to attack Yoon Suk-yeol and the opposition’s attempt to unify its candidates. Meanwhile, Yoon met with former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and focused on presenting his visions about foreign relations and national security.

[Pkg]

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung went to Jeju on the day he officially registered for the presidential race. He wrote on the visitor log at Jeju 4.3 Peace Park that he would overcome the old era of retaliation. The comment apparently refers to his People Power Party counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol’s remark about investigating the former administration once elected. In an impromptu speech, Lee urged the audience to not revert to being a police state.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Pres. Candidate) : "Whose misfortune is it if Korea turns into a prosecution state that punishes protesters, closes down the press, and believes a president cannot reprimand prosecutors?"

He again brought up late President Roh Moo-hyun, asking the people if they would repeatedly make the same mistakes. Meanwhile, PPP candidate Yoon Suk-yeol met in private with former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who visited South Korea. Pence is widely known in the states to be extremely hawkish toward North Korea. Yoon told the ex-VP that if he is elected, he would work towards strengthening the Seoul-Washington alliance in the fields of national security, high-tech and international cooperation.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(PPP Pres. Candidate) : "We talked about North Korea’s denuclearization, South Korea’s security and ROK-U.S. alliance. I learned that his father was a Korean War veteran and recipient of the Bronze star Medal."

With election campaigning officially set to begin Tuesday... Lee visited the graves of former presidents at the Seoul National Cemetery, including those of Rhee Syng-man and Park Chung-hee and then went to Myeongdong in central Seoul to announce a new campaigning system. Meanwhile, Yoon vowed to win the election at the PPP general assembly before visiting the Korea Federation of SMEs to announce his policy visions for small and medium businesses. Justice Party’s Sim Sang-jung attended a Kwanhun discussion session while People’s Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo visited the Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do region.