Democratic Labor Party presidential candidate Kwon Young-gook attends the first televised debate for the 21st presidential election on May 18. /National Assembly Press Corps

Kwon Young-gook, the Democratic Labor Party’s presidential candidate, stood out in the first televised presidential debate by targeting the weaknesses of his rivals, elevating his presence despite being the lowest-polling among the four contenders. As the sole progressive candidate, Kwon adopted a strategy of sharp ideological clarity, drawing attention for steering the debate toward progressive issues. One of the most talked-about moments was his refusal to shake hands with Kim Moon-soo, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) candidate.

Speaking on CBS Radio on May 19, Kwon explained his decision, saying, “I felt I needed to make my position clear, because shaking hands with someone who has not apologized for last year’s illegal martial law declaration could send the message that such actions are acceptable.” During the debate the day before, Kwon had directly called Kim “a proxy for coup leader Yoon Suk-yeol” and demanded his withdrawal from the race.

Kwon also challenged Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who employed a “low-key” strategy in the debate, by raising progressive issues such as the anti-discrimination law, deliberately occupying the left-leaning space Lee had left open in his appeal to centrist conservatives.

In the economic segment of the debate, Kwon emphasized labor and inequality issues to showcase his policy stance. Responding to Kim’s claim that the “Yellow Envelope Law” was harmful, Kwon retorted, “You served as Labor Minister. How on earth can you say that?” He also opposed New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok’s proposal to regionalize the minimum wage, calling it “regional discrimination” and citing Japan’s experience with the policy. Kwon was the only candidate to openly endorse higher taxes on the wealthy.

Kwon’s assertive performance has resonated with some voters. According to the Democratic Labor Party, 451 people donated to his campaign between 8 p.m. on the 18th and 3 p.m. on the 19th, surpassing the previous record of 332 donors on the 10th. The party also reported that “more people joined the party on the 19th alone than its average monthly new membership over the past three months.”

Known as a “lawyer of the streets,” Kwon has spent the past 23 years working on high-profile social and labor justice cases, including the Yongsan and Sewol Ferry tragedies and the Ssangyong Motor strike. The Justice Party, the predecessor of the Democratic Labor Party, became a fringe party in last year’s general election, garnering only 2.14 percent of the vote, but three years ago it won 4.14 percent of the proportional representation votes for local councils in the local elections, qualifying it to participate in televised debates as it surpassed the 3 percent threshold.