Presidential nominees Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea exchanged criticisms on each others’ “inadequate capabilities,” over the Ukraine crisis during a televised presidential debate on Friday.

“The Ukraine crisis is leading the prices of raw materials and energy sources to skyrocket, and it may create insecurity in the finance sector. It is also a threat factor to Korea’s national security,” Yoon said.

“But when the Ukraine attack was launched, Lee first said it is ‘an incident occurring on the other side of the globe and has nothing to do with us,’” Yoon said, quoting Lee’s remark, and added that Lee is “not prepared” to handle security issues as the president.

Over the remark, Lee fired back, saying Yoon “lies too much.”

“I think Yoon really lies too often, What I said was, ‘(the Ukraine crisis) is an incident happening in a distant country, but it has such an impact that it causes Korea’s stock prices to fall,” Lee said.

“Don’t distort the facts by saying only parts of what I said.”

Lee also critcized Yoon’s remark, saying it shows the capabilities of a “6-months-old novice in politics,” referring to how Yoon had only recently entered politics after quitting as prosecutor general in March last year.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)