 |
| Presidential candidate Huh Kyung-young of the National Revolutionary Party speaks in front of the National Assembly, Feb. 15, when the country's official presidential election campaign period began. Newsis |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Minor presidential candidate Huh Kyung-young filed a petition to a court on Feb. 28, asserting that Korea's current election law is unconstitutional and that TV debates that invite just the leading presidential candidates and exclude the minor ones need to be banned.
The founder and president of the National Revolutionary Party filed the petition against TV broadcasters MBC, KBS and SBS, JTBC, Channel A, TV Chosun, Yonhap News, YTN and OBS, as well as the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission.
Ahead of the country's presidential election on March 9, various broadcasters have aired four presidential debates this month at 8 p.m. featuring Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party, Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party. The candidates have been leading public support ratings, with Lee and Yoon neck-and-neck at the front.
Eight minor presidential candidates, including Huh, were invited only once to a TV debate that was aired by three TV broadcasters on Feb. 22, late at night ― from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. ― much later than the prime-time slots of the main candidates' debates.
Through a statement issued by his party on Monday, Huh said that the accused parties infringe on the country's Constitution, which calls for fairness for all election candidates, by excluding him from the prime-time TV debates.
During the TV debate for minor candidates, the first thing Huh brought up was his anger that he could only debate with other minor candidates.
Huh has been for weeks bemoaning numerous media outlets, pointing out that even after he drew between 5 percent and 6 percent in public approval ratings last December and January surpassing Sim for fourth place, he still didn't get a chance to debate with other major candidates in the TV debates arranged by the TV networks or the National Election Commission.
Article 82-2 of the country's election law limits the eligibility of candidates for TV debates arranged by the National Election Commission to those meeting one of three conditions: whose party has at least five seats in the National Assembly; those from a party that had gained at least 3 percent of the total valid votes in a previous presidential election; and those who draw at least 5 percent in public support rating.
"The election law goes against Article 116, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which is a higher order of power, that calls for fair opportunities for all election candidates," Huh said in front of Seoul Western District Court in Mapo District, Monday, where he filed the petition. "I stated it in my previous three petitions to the court (earlier in February). But the court ignored my points and repeatedly dismissed my petitions. The court has undercut the Constitution and only took into account the Constitution's sub-category election law."
Huh said that although the current election law allows candidates who don't meet the conditions of Article 82-2 to have a one-time TV debate, its TV broadcast conditions compared to those for leading candidates don't resolve the unconstitutionality at all.
Leading presidential candidates are given at least three TV debate opportunities ― which are mandated and arranged by the National Election Commission ― plus extra debates if arranged by TV networks. It's why some argue minor candidates keep suffering from an uneven playing field in every presidential election.
"The accused parties choosing not to invite minor candidates to the prime-time TV debates alongside major candidates deprives the minor candidates of the most effective election campaigning tool and instills viewers with their discriminatory practices," Huh said. "It's almost impossible for minor candidates who were excluded from the prime-time TV debates to overcome the barrier of such restrictive election campaign practices. I seek to preserve fairness and equal opportunity for all election candidates."
![[INTERVIEW] How AmazeVR revolutionizes aespa's LYNK-POP concert](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4431833759c44bdaa414cb314e90f2fe.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
