Justice Party welcomes failure of Lee-Yoon two-person TV debate, calls for transition to multi-party debate

Court Approves Application to Prohibit Broadcast of Both Parties' Debate on the 26th

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 26th, the Justice Party expressed its welcome regarding the failure of the one-on-one TV debate between Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party.

Floor leader Bae Jin-kyo said, "We welcome the Western Seoul District Court's injunction to ban the one-on-one debate broadcast," adding, "We respect the judiciary's reasonable decision."

Floor leader Bae interpreted, "From the beginning, it was a political scheme by the two entrenched parties to use the broadcast as a promotional medium through election collusion," and "Although democracy was at risk of being infringed upon by the unfair actions of the two parties, ultimately, the public's wish for a multi-party debate was accepted."

He emphasized, "Since the one-on-one debate that the two parties were preparing has been halted, the scheduled debate should rightfully be immediately switched to a multi-party debate."

Floor leader Bae added, "Both candidate Lee Jae-myung and candidate Yoon Seok-youl said they would respect the public's right to know, so there is no justification for refusing a multi-party debate."

On the same day, the Civil Division 21 of the Seoul Western District Court (Chief Judge Park Byung-tae) granted the injunction request filed by Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, and the People’s Party against the three terrestrial broadcasters, ruling that KBS, MBC, and SBS must not hold or broadcast a debate excluding candidate Ahn.