Overhaul TV debate

Current format hampers useful candidate discussions

TV debates among presidential hopefuls are in full swing with the May 9 presidential election only weeks away.

Because the election date was set only after Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, voters have little time to get to know the candidates and where they stand on major issues. This is why the TV debates are particularly important in this election. But the current format of debates, centering mostly on scripted questions and answers, does little to expand the voters’ knowledge of the candidates’ platforms.

The debates so far highlight the need to overhaul the format to better serve the purpose of informing voters.

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) held its seventh debate Friday with frontrunner Moon Jae-in, South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung, Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung and Goyang Mayor Choi Sung. But the debate did not appeal to voters, as seen by the poor viewer ratings. The DPK’s sixth debate on March 22, aired on MBC, only garnered a 1.8 percent viewer rating. The other parties also failed to gain public attention with their monotonous debates.

Compared with the heated debates of the U.S. candidates in the primary race last year, the Korean parties’ debates lack spontaneity, excitement and in-depth explanations on policies.

For a more useful debate, a new format should reflect three major changes. First, there should be a limit to the number of topics in one debate. In other words, a debate should cover only one or two big themes, in addition to several relevant subtopics. For example, a debate devoted to the Fourth Industrial Revolution will inevitably lead to discussions on subtopics like education reform. If a debate is focused on one specific theme, then candidates will have enough time to present their views and platforms at length.

Second, there should be more discussion among the candidates as well as one-on-one debates. DPK debates spend more than 20 minutes on scripted questions and answers. Even the Seongnam mayor posted on social media that he felt like he was taking part in a “school play” and reading out “model answers,” criticizing the current debate format. As he pointed out, the current format revolves too much around cursory answers and leaves little time for active discussion and rebuttals among the candidates.

Having more discussion will make it easier for voters to compare the candidates’ intelligence and competence. Also, a panel of experts in a wide range of areas should be invited to ask spontaneous questions.

Third, some time should be set aside for introducing the personal stories of the candidates and their families and what inspired them to get into politics. During the Republican primary debates, for example, candidates talked about how they met their spouses. This added an interesting variety to an otherwise intense policy battle. Aside from hearing about their leadership capacity and policy platforms, voters also want to know what kind of person their future president is.