Quantum Debate Ultimately Canceled... Democratic Party and People Power Party Blame Opposing Candidates (Comprehensive)

Democratic Party "Yoon Can't Even Do Negative Campaigning Without Data" VS People Power Party "Lee Trying to Avoid Daejang-dong Verification"
Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo "Democratic Party and People Power Party Should Be Ashamed Before Blaming Each Other"
Candidate Shim Sang-jung "Evasion, Privilege, and Rule-breaking Have Been Defeated... Must Accept Multilateral Debate Unconditionally"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The one-on-one debate between Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate?who have formed a two-party dominance in various opinion polls?was ultimately canceled on the 31st.

The Democratic Party and the People Power Party strongly criticized each other, blaming the opposing candidate for the debate's cancellation.

However, Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party presidential candidate, and Shim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, criticized the very concept of a one-on-one debate and called for an unconditional four-way debate.

Blame Game Over Debate Cancellation…Democratic Party and People Power Party Shift Responsibility to Opponents

The People Power Party’s TV debate negotiation team held a press conference in the afternoon, stating, "Holding onto a faint hope, we waited until the morning of the Lunar New Year holiday today to continue negotiations with the Democratic Party." They claimed, "Ultimately, it seems Lee Jae-myung is refusing this one-on-one debate to avoid scrutiny over the Daejang-dong scandal."

Seong Il-jong, head of the People Power Party’s TV debate negotiation team, said at the press conference, "According to Article 9 of the Election Broadcasting Debate Management Regulations on the National Election Commission website, candidates are allowed to use reference materials such as documents, charts, and pictures within A3 size." He questioned, "On what grounds are they blocking something that is allowed by the regulations?" He added, "Candidate Lee is the best in South Korea at evading, backtracking, blaming others, dodging, and making excuses." He emphasized, "When Candidate Lee shows off his verbal skills in the debate, we must present accurate facts and refute him to uncover the truth."

He continued, "Candidate Lee also brought materials to previous candidate debates. The Democratic Party accused Candidate Yoon of planning to cheat during the debate, but Candidate Lee should also debate without materials in the upcoming legally mandated debates hosted by the National Election Commission." He urged, "According to the Democratic Party’s logic, debating with materials would be 'cheating.' They should apologize immediately to the public who were expecting the one-on-one debate."

The Democratic Party also raised the level of criticism, saying that after the People Power Party’s press conference, Yoon should have admitted from the start that he cannot even conduct negative campaigning without materials, and accused them of trying to sabotage the debate by threatening to bring a bundle of negative materials.

Park Chan-dae, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party’s presidential campaign committee, said, "It was the People Power Party who insisted on debating without materials from the beginning." He pointed out, "When the Democratic Party agreed to a no-material debate, they suddenly changed their stance to allow at least notes, and then insisted on bringing materials. That was the People Power Party." He added, "Candidate Lee made concessions and opened the way for the one-on-one debate despite their insistence on a topic-less debate. But the People Power Party, startled by something, is trying to sabotage the debate by threatening to bring a bundle of negative materials."

He further stated, "The unreasonable negotiation attitude of Candidate Yoon and the People Power Party is incomprehensible. The only understandable explanation is that the People Power Party never intended to debate from the start." He emphasized, "They proposed a one-on-one debate to avoid the four-way debate, and when it was accepted, they insisted again on a topic-less debate. When that was also accepted, they shifted the blame for the cancellation by claiming they cannot debate without bringing cheating materials."

Ahn: "Democratic Party and People Power Party Should Be Ashamed Before Blaming Each Other"…Shim: "Cheating, Privilege, and Rule-Breaking Have Been Defeated"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Ahn Cheol-soo and Shim Sang-jung expressed critical views toward Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl, respectively, regarding the debate cancellation. Ahn sharply stated, "The Democratic Party and the People Power Party should be ashamed before blaming each other." Holding a press conference on the steps in front of the National Assembly main building in Yeouido, Seoul, Ahn said, "Ultimately, the collusive debate of the two entrenched parties was canceled. To all party members, comrades, supporters, and many citizens who think this cannot continue in Korea, thank you for stopping it."

He added, "Watching the trivial quarrel and breakdown between the two candidates, I also think their true intention was to cancel the four-way debate originally requested by the broadcasters through the one-on-one debate controversy." He suggested, "There might have been another collusion to ensure that I, Ahn Cheol-soo, would not be placed on the debate table of public opinion." He demanded, "I ask the two candidates to apologize to the public for politically inciting conflict through a collusive debate that should never have been discussed in the first place." He proposed, "Let’s have a proper no-material four-way debate on February 3." He added, "Let’s compete honestly with our true selves on morality, future vision, policy alternatives, and reform will, and receive the public’s judgment. Let’s stop the petty acts of evading through tricks and clinging to vested interests for profit."

Shim Sang-jung also held a press conference at the National Assembly that day, evaluating, "Cheating, privilege, and rule-breaking have been defeated, and law, fairness, and common sense have won." He criticized, "The collusive debate of the two entrenched parties was canceled after a fierce struggle." He said, "The past few days, where they fought over favorable conditions and only tired the public, reflect the exhausting two-party politics we have seen repeatedly." He urged, "Let’s stop competing over who is less bad among bad candidates and now compete confidently in a fair ring watched by the public." He called for, "Unconditionally accept the broadcaster-hosted multi-candidate debate."

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