“Turtle Island” becomes controversy

[Anchor]

This is Turtle Island, an artificial island located in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.

It has become the center of controversy ahead of the presidential election.

Candidate Lee Jae-myung mentioned the attraction of this artificial surfing park on Turtle Island as one of his achievements, prompting a joint attack from the People Power Party and the Reform Party.

The conflict between the two sides has escalated to the point of accusations, and reporter Lee Ye-jin has the story.

[Report]

During candidate Lee Jae-myung's campaign rally in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province yesterday (May 24)...

[Lee Jae-myung/Democratic Party Presidential Candidate: "You know of Turtle Island, right? The Wave Park on Turtle Island was swiftly constructed and licensed in about two years, and I am proud of that."]

The People Power Party criticized that the candidate mocked the suffering of the merchants on Turtle Island.

They pointed out that the vacancy rate on Turtle Island has reached 87%, stating that the reality of the 'hotel economy theory' is the 'tragedy of Turtle Island,' and similar to his comments about 'coffee costing 120 won,' this reveals the disconnect from reality in his economic views.

[Na Kyung-won/People Power Party Member: "The only ones who benefited are the land developers, and everyone else is suffering now. If he boasted about it knowing this, it would be shameless, and if he did not know, it would simply be incompetence and irresponsibility..."]

Candidate Lee Jun-seok also emphasized that "the people must have been outraged at such out-of-touch remarks," stating that politics is not just about boasting but is about solving problems.

[Lee Jun-seok/Reform Party Presidential Candidate: "Did anybody force him to say that he did well in attracting his Wave Park in front of the harmed merchants? Making blunders and then later shaking with anger while criticizing the Reform Party..."]

In response, the Democratic Party refuted that Candidate Lee Jae-myung has never boasted about the Turtle Island project as an achievement.

They stated, "Turtle Island was designated as a national marina port during the tenure of former Governor Nam Kyung-pil of the Saenuri Party," and added, "The candidate only mentioned attracting the Wave Park as efforts to revitalize Turtle Island."

The Democratic Party accused Lee Jun-seok and People Power Party members Na Kyung-won and Joo Jin-woo of spreading false information without even confirming basic facts and reported them to the police.

This is KBS News, Lee Ye-jin.