Candidates prepare to face off in first debate

South Korea's presidential candidates were to face off in their first TV debate yesterday evening ahead of a snap election on June 3 to choose a successor to former president Yoon Suk-yeol, who was impeached over his short-lived martial law declaration in December.

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Yesterday's debate, the first of three TV debates scheduled over the next two weeks, was to focus on how to revitalise the struggling economy, one of the hot-button election issues. Asia's fourth-largest economy contracted in the first quarter as exports and consumption stalled amid fears over the impact of Washington’s aggressive tariffs and political turmoil at home.