Ahn Cheol-soo and Geum Tae-seop Face Difficulties in Practical Talks... 'Pre-Seollal Debate' at Risk of Being Canceled

Geum Tae-seop Urges Hurry, Ahn Cheol-soo Takes It Easy

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The debate between Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, and former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop before the Lunar New Year is at risk of falling through. While Geum’s side insists that the timing should not be missed, Ahn’s side maintains that it is realistically impossible due to scheduling and other reasons.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 9th, a representative from Ahn’s side told Asia Economy in a phone interview, “It is physically difficult to hold the debate before the Lunar New Year,” adding, “Ahn has other schedules to manage, and even if the debate is arranged, there is very little time to discuss programming with the broadcasting station.” The representative continued, “The People’s Party also needs to go through internal procedures such as holding a public relations committee meeting for discussion,” and said, “We need about three to four more days.”

Previously, former lawmaker Geum had requested a debate before the Lunar New Year from Ahn’s side for candidate unification.

Geum stated, “Shouldn’t we do something before the Lunar New Year?” and added, “Right now, broadcasting stations are interested and making proposals, but after the Lunar New Year, that interest might disappear.” A staff member from Geum’s side also said, “We wanted to negotiate quickly, but since Ahn’s side says it is difficult due to various circumstances, we feel regretful.”

In response, Ahn’s side holds the position that there is no need to insist on a debate before the Lunar New Year. The representative said, “The ‘Lunar New Year holiday effect’ will not be significant this time,” explaining, “Due to COVID-19 prevention measures, family members cannot gather to talk about politics, and people will mostly watch TV alone or with their families at home, so it will be no different from usual.”

The two sides also showed differences regarding the preparation time for the debate. Ahn’s staff said, “The debate itself requires a lot of preparation time,” and added, “It is not important to do it quickly, but to do it well.” In contrast, Geum’s staff said, “TV debate broadcasts do not require a long time from scheduling to preparation,” and explained, “The first topic agreed upon by the staff (evaluation of the Moon Jae-in administration and Park Won-soon’s Seoul city governance) is a subject both candidates can comfortably discuss, so we thought it would not take long.”

The working negotiation teams of Ahn and Geum plan to meet frequently within this week to coordinate the future debate schedule and format.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.