Democratic Party: "Yoon, who demands 'two-person debate,' should participate in four-person debate first"

"Demand for Quantum Debate Ignores Court Ruling"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Democratic Party of Korea has effectively rejected the People Power Party's proposal for a one-on-one presidential candidate debate on the 31st, stating, "Participate in the four-way debate first."

On the same day, the Democratic Party's Broadcast Debate Content Team issued a press release saying, "Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol should not ignore the court ruling and is expected to declare participation in the four-way broadcast debate, which is on the verge of being finalized," adding, "We hope the four-way debate will take place as soon as possible on the 31st." They also stated, "The new one-on-one debate proposed by Candidate Yoon should be conducted concurrently with the four-way debate."

Park Ju-min, a member of the Democratic Party and head of the Broadcast Debate Content Team, criticized, "Yesterday, the People Power Party said a multi-party debate was acceptable, but today they suddenly insisted on a new one-on-one debate," adding, "This seems like ignoring the court ruling. I suspect they are trying to use the one-on-one debate as a means to avoid the four-way debate."

He continued, "Looking at the provisional injunction decision, it mentions the provisions under the Public Official Election Act, stating that candidates with over 5% support need to be considered. If other candidates are not given the opportunity to debate, the one-on-one debate could also be canceled."

Furthermore, he emphasized, "The People Power Party pointed out that a one-on-one debate between Candidate Lee Jae-myung and Candidate Kim Dong-yeon of the New Wave party was also agreed upon, but Candidate Kim does not meet the 5% support threshold under the Public Official Election Act, so the debate is somewhat freer and less fair," adding, "Using that to claim that the one-on-one debate between Candidates Lee and Yoon will proceed without any issues is irresponsible. Do not avoid the four-way debate through the one-on-one debate proposal; let's hold both the one-on-one and four-way debates."