"Two-Party Political Monopoly" vs "Just Order of Approval Ratings" Lee-Yoon Two-Person TV Debate, What Do You Think?

Lee-Yoon, Sudden Agreement on Bilateral TV Debate During Lunar New Year Holiday
Ahn "Malfeasance of the Two Major Parties," Shim "Collusion, Custom-Made Debate"... Injunction Request to Ban Broadcast
Broadcasters "Public's Right to Know and Efficiency... Media Environment Has Changed"
Court to Decide by the 26th

The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party proposed to the three major terrestrial broadcasters to hold a bilateral TV debate during this Lunar New Year holiday. The photo shows Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate (left), and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Controversy is intensifying ahead of the scheduled one-on-one TV debate between Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, during the Lunar New Year holiday. Some critics argue that holding a debate exclusively between the two major party candidates would deprive the public of their right to know. The People’s Party and the Justice Party have even filed injunction requests to ban the broadcast.

Earlier, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party proposed to the three major terrestrial broadcasters to hold the one-on-one TV debate on either the 30th or 31st.

The People’s Party and the Justice Party, excluded from the debate, strongly opposed the plan. Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party candidate, criticized the two-candidate debate as "unfair, monopolistic, and unappealing."

On the 19th, during CBS Radio’s 'Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show,' he said, "It is unfair because it neither gives candidates equal opportunities nor the public their right to know. It is monopolistic because the entrenched two major parties collude to push it forward, and it is an unappealing debate because the top two least-liked candidates are the ones debating. The public will judge the two major parties’ misconduct," he warned.

Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party candidate, also appeared at the injunction hearing on the 25th and strongly criticized the two-candidate debate as "a debate manufactured by the collusion of the two major parties." She further claimed that the failure of the multi-candidate debate was due to candidate Yoon. In court that day, she said, "We officially received proposals for a four-candidate debate from six broadcasters. However, the debate independently pursued by the broadcasters was canceled because the People Power Party candidate refused."

On the other hand, the representatives of the three major terrestrial broadcasters responded before the hearing that "compared to the 2007 (17th presidential election) situation, 25 years later, there have been tremendous changes. YouTube and new media have developed, and the influence of terrestrial broadcasters is different from before," indicating that "the presidential election dynamics then and now are different." During the 17th presidential election, candidate Moon Kook-hyun of the Creative Korea Party also filed an injunction to ban broadcasts against KBS and MBC, which invited only specific candidates to the debate.

Additionally, the representatives emphasized in court, "Unlike election broadcast debates, the two-candidate debate is invited by media organizations and does not have fixed participation requirements," adding, "There are regulations allowing a two-candidate debate among candidates who meet the criteria to ensure the public’s right to know and an efficient debate."

The People's Party and the Justice Party submitted a "Preliminary Injunction Request to Prohibit Presidential Candidate Invitation Debate Broadcast" to the court on the 19th and 20th. The photo shows Sim Sang-jung, Justice Party presidential candidate (left), and Ahn Cheol-soo, People's Party presidential candidate. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Voices of criticism emerged in the political sphere regarding the two-candidate debate. On the 24th, Lee Sang-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said on YTN Radio’s 'Lee Dong-hyung’s News Face-off,' "The harm caused by the duopoly of the two major parties in Korean politics is already significant, and limiting election debates to just two candidates is very wrong," pointing out, "At least four parties should participate in the debate. Fairness is the most important aspect of elections."

On the same day, Oh Jun-ho, the Basic Income Party presidential candidate, held a press conference at the National Assembly and criticized, "The three broadcasters have consistently excluded the voices of minor parties and focused coverage only on the two major party candidates. This two-candidate debate is a continuation of that. The three broadcasters are abandoning their responsibility as public broadcasters to use the airwaves for the public interest. We express deep regret."

Meanwhile, there are prospects that the TV debate itself could be canceled if the court accepts the injunction request. During the 17th presidential election, the court accepted candidate Moon Kook-hyun’s injunction request against KBS and MBC, which ultimately led to the cancellation of the debate. At that time, Moon filed the injunction after broadcasters planned to invite only candidates with over 10% support?Jeong Dong-young of the United Democratic Party, Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party, and independent candidate Lee Hoi-chang?to the TV debate.

However, on the same day, Sim’s lawyer Ryu Ha-kyung dismissed concerns about the "cancellation of the TV debate," saying, "(The broadcasters) claim that if the injunction is granted, the debate will be canceled, but then the other candidates can debate excluding candidate Yoon, who does not want a multi-candidate debate," adding, "Candidates who do not participate in the multi-candidate debate reveal their stance by themselves, so the public can evaluate them; broadcasters need not be so anxious."

The court will receive additional opinions until 6 p.m. that day and is expected to make a decision on the two-candidate debate by the 26th at the latest.