Ahn Cheol-soo and Geum Tae-seop's First Debate on the 18th Afternoon, Ahn's 'Debate Skills' in Focus

Controversy Over Past Remarks Including 'MB Avatar'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Attention is focused on the first TV debate between Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, and former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop, scheduled for the afternoon of the 18th. In the past, Ahn sparked controversy during a presidential TV debate with remarks such as “Am I MB (former President Lee Myung-bak)’s avatar?” Kim Jin-ae, a candidate from the Open Democratic Party, described Ahn’s high approval ratings in an interview with Asia Economy last month as “a mirage that will disappear after one debate.”

Both sides are showing confidence. Ahn Hye-jin, spokesperson for the People’s Party, said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 18th, “(Ahn leader) has received high scores in countless debates,” adding, “We will make good use of this debate.” Kim Tae-hyung, spokesperson for former lawmaker Geum’s campaign, also said, “(Geum) has often been praised for being logical,” and “Since he has received less attention compared to other candidates so far, this will be a proper opportunity to show what competitiveness he has.”

In political circles, there are many views that relatively underestimate Ahn’s debating skills. On the 10th of last month, former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-won wrote on Facebook, “A senior strategist from the Democratic Party I recently met said, ‘Ahn leader is the easiest,’” and added, “‘Ahn’s approval rating is just a bubble reflecting name recognition, and it will be over with one debate,’ he confidently said.”

During the 2017 presidential election, Hong Joon-pyo, then a candidate from the Liberty Korea Party (now an independent lawmaker), wrote on Facebook, “In a debate to elect the president of a country, showing a childlike whining attitude and appearing to the public like a sulky elementary school student is probably not just my impression.”

Behind the delayed scheduled debate and conflicts over the debate format, there was suspicion that Ahn was avoiding the debate. In fact, on the 14th, former lawmaker Geum attacked Ahn during a meeting with Na Kyung-won, a preliminary candidate from the People Power Party, saying, “When the moderator asks questions, he wants to recite what he has memorized.”

At 4 p.m. that day, Channel A will broadcast live the ‘Seoul Mayor Candidate Unification TV Debate’ between Ahn and former lawmaker Geum. This was arranged after fierce disputes between the working-level negotiation teams of both sides over broadcasting media and debate format, which led to the cancellation of the first debate and caused controversy.

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