According to the National Election Broadcasting Debates Commission, the first Presidential candidates debate will be held on December 4 at 8pm for 2 hours at the MBC studio. The debate will be attended by Geun-hye Park, the Saenuri Party’s candidate, Jae-in Moon, the Democratic United Party’s candidate and Jung-hee Lee, the Unified Progressive Party’s candidate.

The candidates will have an in-depth discussion about ‘how to achieve a political reform’, ‘how to eradicate power-oriented corruption’, ‘Direction of Policy towards North Korea’ and ‘Direction of Foreign Policy towards Neighbor Countries’. The topics have been selected through the Public Question contest.

In addition, another debate will be held on December 5 at 11pm with independent candidates present in accordance with Article 82-2 Clause 5 of the Public Official Election Act. Jong-sun Park, So-yeon Kim and Soon-ja Kim (listed in order of candidate number) are among the attendees.

The above mentioned debates will be moderated by Dong-ho Shin, an MBC announcer and be broadcast live simultaneously on KBS, MBC and SBS TV/Radio nationwide. Also, they will be broadcast simultaneously on KBS World for overseas Korean viewers in 73 countries.

Meanwhile, the first TV debate on December 4 comprises a free discussion on the selected Public Questions to avoid inflexibility perceived during the 17^th Presidential candidates debates. The candidates may argue and counter-argue over a topic on a one-to-one basis for 3 minutes each.

※     17^th Presidential Candidates Debate: <Remarks by Candidate “A” -> Arguments Made by the Rest of Candidates -> Counter-arguments Made by Candidate “A”>

※     18^th Presidential Candidates Debate: <Questions Selected through Public Contest -> Answers of Candidates “A”, ”B” & “C” -> Free Discussion between Candidates “A” & “B” -> Free Discussion between Candidates “B” & “C” -> Free Discussion between Candidates “C” & “A”>

Furthermore, there will be a 「Mutual Discussion on Questions by Moderator」 in regards to 3 topics following the 「Free Discussion on the Selected Public Questions」. Once each candidate answers the questions asked by the host, two candidates will argue and counter-argue over the topics. It is expected to serve as an opportunity for the candidates to have a vigorous debate and for the public to compare and assess the candidates’ pledges and policies.

※     17^th Presidential Candidates Debate: <Questions by Moderator -> Answers of Candidates (one and a half minutes)>

※     18^th Presidential Candidates Debate: <Questions by Moderator -> Answers of Candidates “A”, “B” & “C” (one and a half minutes) -> Questions by Candidate “B” (argument for one minute) -> Answers of Candidate “A” (counter-argument for one and a half minutes) -> Question by Candidate “A” (argument for one minute) -> Answer of Candidate “B” (counter-argument for one and a half minutes)>