People’s Strength Presidential Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol announces a pledge related to digital economy policy at the company’s office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 28th. By Oh Dae-geun
The first debate between Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and People’s Strength presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to be held on the 31st, during the Lunar New Year holiday. A four-party TV debate hosted by a terrestrial broadcaster is expected to be held on the 3rd of next month, in which Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the People’s Party, and Shim Sang-jung, presidential candidate of the Justice Party, participate. However, although the Democratic Party and the People’s Power agreed to a bilateral discussion on the 31st following repeating a ping-pong game, there are also observations that the implementation is somewhat unclear as the People’s Party and the Justice Party strongly oppose the bilateral discussion ahead of the four-party debate.
After the ping-pong game, a ‘quantum discussion’ agreement was reached
The Democratic Party and the People’s Power reached an agreement on the followingnoon of the 28th to hold a ‘one-on-one’ policy discussion between Candidate Lee and Candidate Yoon during the Lunar New Year holiday. Until the morning of that day, the People’s Power had maintained its position that “we can only have bilateral discussions with this candidate during the Lunar New Year holiday,” but in the followingnoon, it was proposed to be amended to ‘bilateral discussions during the Lunar New Year holiday, and a four-party discussion following the holidays’. As the Democratic Party suddenly accepted it, an agreement was reached on the ’31st bilateral discussion’.
Candidate Yoon maintained his insistence on the morning of the same day, ‘Let’s only have bilateral discussions during the Lunar New Year holiday’. He met with reporters and said, “We are open to bilateral discussions or four-party discussions.” The previous day, the Democratic Party had rejected a counter proposal to hold bilateral and four-party debates on the 31st. Seong Il-jong, head of the People’s Strength TV Debate Working Group, also said at a press conference, “It’s good to have a discussion regarding once a week.”
However, the mood changed rapidly as the Democratic Party, People’s Party, and Justice Party, except for the people’s power that adhered to bilateral discussions, discussed a four-party TV debate that the three terrestrial broadcasters proposed to open on the 31st or the 3rd of the following month on KBS at 2 pm. The three parties decided to postpone the four-party TV debate to February 3, not the 31st originally reviewed, and demanded that the people’s power also participate in the debate.
Rep. Seong held a press conference at the National Assembly and suggested a revision, saying, “I will respond to a four-party TV debate on February 3, so candidate Lee should also receive a bilateral discussion on the 31st.” Candidate Yoon also handed over the ball to the Democratic Party, which first proposed a bilateral discussion, saying, “Didn’t Lee’s side propose a bilateral discussion several times?” This is to avoid public opinion criticizing whether candidate Yoon is avoiding discussion by stating various conditions. In addition, during the bilateral debate, it seems to have the effect of naturally preventing the dispersal of the views of the opposition supporters as well as the concentration check of candidate Ahn, who is the unification opponent of the opposition candidates.
Ahn Cheol-soo and Shim Sang-jung’s ‘strong opposition’ is a variable
An agreement was reached between the two sides as Candidate Lee fully accepted Yoon’s request. Park Joo-min, head of the Democratic Party’s TV debate preparation group, said, “We accept everyone. Don’t put any further conditions on Candidate Yoon, and participate in the four-party debate on February 3.” Although opposition from the People’s Party and Justice Party was expected, it seems that Lee, whose approval rating has recently been locked in a box, decided that he should seize an opportunity for a rebound through discussions during the Lunar New Year holidays. In particular, there was no justification for rejecting a bilateral discussion in a situation where candidate Yoon was the first to propose it.
However, there are criticisms that it is a ‘trick’ for both parties to agree on a ‘bilateral discussion on the 31st’. This is because the court completely contradicts the purpose of accepting the application for an injunction once morest broadcasting by the People’s Party and Justice Party. The purpose of the court ruling was that excluding Ahn, who had an average approval rating of over 10%, or Shim, who led a six-seat party in the parliament, would undermine the people’s right to know and fairness of the election.
Candidate Ahn’s side immediately protested, saying, “We did not agree on a four-party discussion on February 3, but both parties ignored the court’s decision and acted in collusion.” “The Democratic Party should withdraw the bilateral discussion agreement.” Candidate Shim also pointed out, “The priority is to hold a four-party discussion on the 31st.
On the 31st, the discussion between Jae-myung Lee and Seok-yeol Yoon can be seen on TV?
The People’s Power and the Democratic Party had a meeting at 9:30 pm that night and started negotiating the rules of the TV debate. However, it is unclear whether voters will be able to watch the face-to-face match between Candidate Lee and Candidate Yoon over the Lunar New Year holiday. As the court rejected Ahn and Shim’s application for an injunction to ban broadcasting, the three terrestrial broadcasters had to find another channel for broadcasting.
The fact that Candidate Ahn and Candidate Shim are demanding that Candidate Lee “withdraw the bilateral debate” is also a variable in holding the bilateral debate. However, an official from the People’s Party said, “It is not possible to take additional legal action, such as an application for an injunction to ban broadcasting, because it is not a discussion hosted by a broadcasting company.”
Kim Ji-hyun reporter hyun1620@hankookilbo.com
Jaeyeon Park reporter replay@hankookilbo.com
