The Democratic Party of Korea decided to increase the number of presidential primary television debates from 2 to 3. This decision comes in response to criticism that holding too few television debates favors the leading candidate, Lee Jae-myung.
According to political circles on the 17th, the Democratic Party of Korea has agreed to hold 3 candidate television debates during this primary. The first debate will be held on the 18th, the second on the 23rd, and the third on the 25th, hosted by MBC, OhmyTV, and TV Chosun, respectively.
Initially, the Democratic Party of Korea maintained that the tight primary schedule made it realistically difficult to hold more than 2 television debates.
The television debates provide an opportunity for latecomer candidates like Kim Kyeong-soo and Kim Dong-yeon to showcase their presence. They can directly explain their vision and pledges to voters, which can significantly enhance their visibility.
During the 2021 20th presidential election primary, the Democratic Party of Korea held 4 preliminary television debates and 13 main television debates. In the early presidential election (19th) held in 2017 due to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, there were 2 preliminary debates and 9 main debates.
When the leadership announced the much lower 'two-debate plan' compared to the 2017 early presidential election, the non-mainstream camp expressed dissatisfaction, stating, 'This is unfavorable to us.' In fact, during the 2017 campaign, Lee Jae-myung also protested to the party leadership during the negotiation of primary rules, saying, 'For us, with relatively low approval ratings, the debate was the only chance, and we were completely blocked from it.'
A camp official noted, 'We have been informed that the television debates will increase from 2 to 3,' adding, 'We are now busy preparing for consecutive debates in a short period.'