Lee, Yoon at odds over US-China rivalry

From left, Justice Party presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung, ruling Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung, main opposition People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo bump fists before their TV debate at broadcaster KBS' studio in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. Joint Press Corps

Lee underscores pragmatism, Yoon vows to fix Korea-US alliance

By Nam Hyun-woo

South Korea's rival presidential candidates presented starkly contrasting diplomatic views during their first TV debate, Friday. Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung underscored pragmatism, while main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to restore the Korea-U.S. alliance, claiming it had weakened considerably after President Moon Jae-in stepped into office five years ago.

During the debate, hosted and televised by broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, Lee, Yoon, People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung were asked to choose among the leaders of the U.S., China, Japan and North Korea, who they would meet first if elected.

Lee refused to choose a leader at this point and opted instead to base that decision on South Korea's pressing diplomatic needs.

“We don't have to decide who to meet first in advance,” Lee said. “Given South Korea's geopolitical aspect as a peninsula, the most important thing is pragmatic diplomacy. We should decide depending on the progress of the diplomatic situation.”

Responding to the same question, Yoon of the main conservative party said he will meet U.S. President Joe Biden first, followed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“During the past five years under the DPK's rule, South Korea's diplomatic relations became submissive to China and North Korea, while that toward the U.S. and Japan faltered,” Yoon said. “I believe the priority is restoring relations with the U.S. and Japan.”

During the debate, Lee criticized Yoon's recent remarks that South Korea should deploy additional U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries on its soil, and that the country should apply more stringent rules when offering health insurance coverage to foreigners residing in Korea. The remarks were viewed as targeting China, as Beijing has implemented strong economic retaliation measures against Seoul's deployment of THAAD in 2016, while eight out of 10 expats benefiting from Korea's health insurance scheme are Chinese people living in Korea.

“(Yoon) should not exploit the South Korean public's anti-China sentiment for votes,” Lee said. “Pragmatic diplomacy is very important. The alliance with the U.S. is not confined to defense. It now encompasses an economic partnership. We also have a very important strategic partnership with China, and we should develop this further.”

When Ahn asked him if he was “anti-U.S.,” Lee said “no,” but stressed his support for the Moon Jae-in administration's policy of refusing to deploy additional THAAD batteries, join the U.S.-led missile defense scheme and form a trilateral military partnership with Japan.

Sim criticized Yoon's hardline approach of favoring a preemptive strike on North Korea's missile threats, saying it is an inappropriate and warmongering idea. However, Yoon countered by saying he believes in the necessity of preemptive strikes in order to prevent war.

Opposition candidates criticized Lee over allegations that he was involved in a massive land development scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province when he was the city's governor. But Lee reiterated that he was not involved in the scandal, and claimed that members of the PPP let those involved in the project to rake in massive benefits.

The event marked the first TV debate for the candidates ahead of the March 9 presidential election.

Thursday's event came after the four candidates locked horns over the method of their TV debate. Initially, Lee and Yoon agreed to hold a two-way debate on Jan. 31 -- despite opposition from Ahn and other candidates -- but the showdown did not take place as the two main candidates clashed over access to data and documents to complement their arguments. Before that, Ahn and Sim each turned to the court of law to ban a two-way TV debate between Lee and Yoon.

Although the TV debate failed to touch on candidates' visions and ideas on pending state affairs, it is still anticipated to affect the current neck-and-neck race between Lee and Yoon.

According to a 2017 research by Korean Political Science Association on the previous presidential election, 95.5 percent of the surveyed supporters of main liberal candidate Moon Jae-in actually voted for him after TV debates, and 94 percent of Hong Joon-pyo's supporters cast ballots for the then-main conservative candidate after the TV debates.

On the other hand, that of centrist Ahn and minor liberal Sim stood at 49.8 percent and 47.7 percent, respectively, meaning that the TV debates drew ballots from floating voters and others supporting minor candidates.