The question of whether Seoul should pursue nuclear weapons to achieve “nuclear balance” with North Korea monopolized foreign policy discussion at South Korea’s final presidential debate on Tuesday, where candidates also quarreled over who’s at fault for inter-Korean tensions while appealing to voters ahead of the June 3 election.

The debate hosted by broadcaster MBC was supposed to cover political reform such as constitutional amendments? and foreign policy, although it often devolved into bickering over scandals and controversies related to Democratic Party’s (DP) Lee Jae-myung and ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) Kim Moon-soo.

During the last 25 minutes dedicated to