[Summary] Four Presidential Candidates' TV Debate on the 8th Canceled... People Power Party Cites "Host Bias Issue"

Democratic Party: "Sudden demand for organizers to step down shows no intention to debate from the start"
Justice Party: "People Power Party must apologize to the public"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The '2nd TV Debate' scheduled for the 8th between the four presidential candidates from the ruling and opposition parties has been canceled due to a failure to reach an agreement.

Presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party held working-level talks on the TV debate on the afternoon of the 5th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.

During the discussions, the People Power Party raised concerns about the bias of the Korea Journalists Association, which is organizing the debate, and JTBC, which is responsible for the live broadcast. The People Power Party requested that the debate be organized by the four comprehensive programming channels (Jongpyeon), including TV Chosun, Channel A, and MBN. The Democratic Party, People’s Party, and Justice Party agreed to the four Jongpyeon channels organizing the debate but opposed changing the organizer from the Korea Journalists Association to another organization, resulting in the cancellation of the TV debate scheduled for the 8th.

The People Power Party’s TV debate negotiation team issued a statement on the cancellation, claiming, "The joint debate inviting the four candidates, hosted by the Journalists Association and organized by a specific broadcaster, is judged not to guarantee the fairness that is the basic premise of a debate."

The People Power Party also said, "We request that this debate be held in the same format as the joint debate hosted by the three major terrestrial broadcasters on February 3rd, with the four Jongpyeon channels co-hosting." They added, "Regarding the debate’s progress, we request that the agenda, moderator, and format be decided through agreement among the four participating parties to ensure the fairness of the debate."

They further stated, "We publicly request all candidates, the Journalists Association, and the four Jongpyeon channels to reconsider these requests."

On the other hand, Park Chan-dae, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, expressed regret in a statement, saying, "The sudden demand by the host to withdraw shows there was no intention to debate from the start." He added, "Is Candidate Yoon still afraid of debating? He should stop trying to avoid it with all sorts of tricks and immediately participate in the debate."

Lee Dong-young, chief spokesperson for the Justice Party’s presidential campaign, also criticized, "Candidate Yoon’s unreasonable demands and nitpicking caused this fiasco. He must be held strictly accountable." He urged, "The People Power Party and Candidate Yoon should issue a responsible public apology and immediately return to the debate stage."

Previously, the one-on-one debate between candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl, scheduled for the 31st of last month, was also canceled after a standoff over the materials to be brought.

The TV debate among the four presidential candidates was held for the first time on the 3rd. From the 21st, three official debates hosted by the National Election Commission will take place.

The Korea Journalists Association plans to continue discussions on two proposals: one to hold a debate excluding Candidate Yoon Seok-youl among the three other candidates, and another to have six broadcasters?including the four Jongpyeon channels and two news-specialized channels?co-host the debate.

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