Anchor: With less than two months left until the general elections, the ruling People Power Party(PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) continued to trade heated words. While the two major parties are mired in a rhetorical battle, the New Reform Party, created last Friday, held its first Supreme Council meeting on Tuesday and stressed the need to move on from what it calls outdated bipartisan politics. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has a wrap-up of the latest.  

Report: The ruling People Power Party(PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) are focused on exchanging heated words over liberal politicians' student activism background. 

The ruling People Power Party(PPP) has been criticizing the main opposition for what it calls the outdated politics of the 1980s student movement, calling the upcoming elections an opportunity to sweep old liberal politicians of student activism.

Democratic Party floor leader Hong Ihk-pyo on Monday launched a counter argument, saying that the ruling PPP is applying the same logic that pro-Japanese groups had used when they disparaged independence fighters during the Japanese colonial era.   

In an apparent reference to a cash-for-votes scandal surrounding the DP's 2021 leadership election, PPP's interim chief Han Dong-hoon on Tuesday attacked the main opposition, saying that independence activists had not distributed cash envelopes. 

The DP floor chief then snapped back at Han, demanding an apology. Hong said that his party will not sit down and take what he called the political prosecutors' humiliation of Korea's democratic movement. 

As the major parties are mired in harsh rhetorics, the New Reform Party, created last Friday via a merger of four minor parties, held its first Supreme Council meeting on Tuesday.

The new party sought to find its niche. At the meeting, the party's co-chair, former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok said the voters want to see an end to the meaningless clash between President Yoon Suk Yeol and DP chair Lee Jae-myung. 

The New Reform Party's co-chair Lee Nak-yon, a former DP chief, said at the meeting that if the PPP and DP fail to change their ways, the nation will face far more serious damage than the present. 

Appearing at a radio program, the former DP chief said he believes the New Reform Party must secure at least 30 seats in the general elections needed to block what he called the tyranny of the two major parties. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.