Lee, "If You Keeping Finding Faults, Everyone Will Be Destroyed”

Lee is emphasizing that he is the only presidential hopeful that can save the economy by saying, "People say that I will give up if I`m attacked with false accusations. However, that is not going to happen. Who am I? Who can throw a rock at me?"

On the criticisms raised by the Park`s camp, Lee railed against Park at a speech meeting much harsher than before. Lee said, "When I was selling merchandise going country to country, I never talked badly about other products. Finding faults with others will get everyone nowhere." He added, "The Roh administration is trying to prevent me from becoming a presidential candidate, out of fear that I will win in the presidential race.

He also talked about his work experience at Hyundai Group in Ulsan, “For the past 20 years, Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd. has waged frequent strikes which has worried many Korean people. If I become president, I am going to address "political and militant labor unions, and their illegal strikes," appealing to citizens.

On the other hand, Park Geun-hye talked about a "true economic leader who is trusted by the people," signaling that economic issues are not something only Lee can address.

She said, "With experience gathered from running government affairs and the Grand National Party, I will recruit talented minds from all over the world and save the nation`s economy. Power does not come from muscle, but from the people`s trust. If Koreans cannot trust their leader, because there is a problem with him, no single policy can succeed." Park said, "While ordinary citizens save pennies to buy a house and to educate their children, someone is raking in hundreds of millions of won from real estate speculation, and I do not think that is a sign of a country that is on the right path."

She said, "We should not allow an unreliable person to become a presidential candidate, if Lee becomes a presidential candidate, we will never be able to make a fresh start in the next administration," emphasizing that she is a "flawless candidate."

Lawmakers Hong Jun-pyo and Won Hui-ryong Say, "I`m the Right Candidate" -

Hong said, "When I moved to Seoul from Ulsan in 1974, my father worked at Hyundai Heavy Industries as a temporary janitor, and I studied day and night to break the cycle of poverty in my family. I want to show my children that however desperate circumstances you are under, you can be a prosecutor, lawmaker, and even president."

Won said, "America has always chosen a young leader to overcome difficulties. In these changing times, you need young blood and young power." He added, "I will not give in to demands of labor unions, but if I become president, I will not trample the rights and demands of the weak and labor unions with public power."

According to research conducted by the Korea Research Center commissioned by this newspaper on July 14 on constituents in Busan, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province, approval ratings of Lee and Park were 34.4% and 33.3%, respectively. When surveyed only on all GNP presidential hopefuls, Lee and Park both scored 42.9%.

When Koreans were abducted in Afghanistan, the "Big two" broke their promise of "no bickering" which they made on July 26 and started lashing out each other again. Park started criticizing first.

Hong Sa-deok, head of the campaign committee for Park, said in a press report yesterday, "Looking at the results of the internal hearing on July 19, DAS did not invest 19 billion won in BBK; instead it was 4 billion, which is different from what Lee said. The rest, which is 15 billion won, may have been invested by Kim, Lee`s brother-in-law, and Sang-eun, Lee`s older brother, in selling land in Dogok-dong."

Kim Jae-won, Park`s spokesperson, criticized Lee, saying, "After Kim Jae-jeong, Lee`s brother-in-law, filed a lawsuit against his own party, he withdrew the lawsuit, which is not at all a wise response to deal with difficult situations."

Park Hyeong-jun, Lee`s spokesperson, said in response, "You have a total disregard to what Koreans and GNP party members think. You might as well wage a full court press "negative campaign" against Lee. We are going to sternly respond to your attack from now on, because Park has crossed a line." Jang Gwang-geun, another spokesperson of the former Seoul mayor, said, "Park is only interested in short term interests; how can she dream of becoming a leader of a country? She says she`s married to Korean citizens, but it doesn`t seem that`s the case."