The presidential candidates of four major parties held their second televised debate Friday evening and clashed over various policy issues.

In the debate hosted by the Journalists Association of Korea and aired on six cable news channels, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Yoon Suk Yeol of the main opposition People Power Party in particular butted heads over a land development scandal and allegations involving their spouses.

The Justice Party's Sim Sang-jung and People's Party's Ahn Cheol-soo blasted the two frontrunners over speculation surrounding their wives and the issue of compensation for small businesses hit by pandemic restrictions.

Labor policies and national security matters such as declaring a formal end to the Korean War and further deployment of a U.S. missile defense system were also debated.

Lee and Yoon avoided a direct clash over Yoon's latest remark about alleged corruption under the current administration, but Ahn Cheol-soo said the nation will be divided into two over the political retaliation controversy.

Regarding the government's COVID-19 response, Lee said it's been successful while the three others all gave a negative assessment.