Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Why Huh Kyung-young was not invited to TV debates
Huh Kyung-young, a presidential candidate of the National Revolutionary Party, raises his hands during a visit to a traditional market in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
Huh Kyung-young, a self-proclaimed prophet and a wacky politician who leads the National Revolutionary Party, appears to have succeeded in grabbing the public's attention with his unique presence in the presidential race. But he was not invited to a TV debate among presidential contenders despite his two decades in politics as a candidate who ran unsuccessfully in the presidential as well as Seoul mayoral elections.
His name has never been mentioned in the ongoing inter-party negotiations on the TV debate among four candidates, although a poll showed he was ahead of the minor Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung.
Huh revealed on his social media account on Thursday just how he feels about the snub.
“God's wrath will be handed down,” he wrote on his Facebook account. Tagging a recent poll that showed he came in fourth and was ahead of the Justice Party candidate, he wrote, “What the hell are you guys doing?”
He was referring to the TV debates that were proposed by three major TV broadcasters ― KBS, SBS and MBC ― featuring Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and possibly Ahn Cheol-soo from the People's Party and Sim from the Justice Party. A two-way debate between the DPK and PPP rivals are expected to take place on Jan. 31 and the four-way battle is anticipated to be held on Feb. 3.
Earlier, Huh requested the Seoul Southern District Court to ban a TV debate only featuring Lee and Yoon, but saw the petition being dismissed. Huh then asked the Seoul Western District Court to prohibit a four-way debate between Lee, Yoon, Ahn and Sim, but this was also dismissed on Friday, despite Huh's claim that “everyone is wondering why Huh Kyung-young was not invited to the TV debate.”
Korea's election law requires candidates to have at least three TV debates hosted by the National Election Commission (NEC). Candidates who are eligible for TV debates are those from a party having more than five seats in the National Assembly, those from a party which secured more than 3 percent of support in previous elections or those who secured more than an average 5 percent support rate in surveys conducted one month before the official election campaign.
Due to this, petitions by Ahn and Sim, who also opposed the two-way TV debate between Lee and Yoon, were accepted, but that of Huh was dismissed, because he does not meet any of the three conditions and the court applied the same rule for NEC-hosted debates on the two-way debate, even though it would be hosted by the broadcasters.
While dismissing Huh's petition for a two-way debate, the Seoul Southern District Court cited that his party has no seat in the Assembly, and his average support rate does not seem to “surpass the 5 percent mark.”
This is the part Huh is complaining about. He claims that his average support rate surpasses the 5 percent mark, citing a Jan. 23 survey.
In the poll, conducted by Korea Information Research for online news outlet NewsPim, Huh secured a 5.6 percent support rate, outpacing Sim with 3.1 percent to stand as the No. 4 candidate. The survey questioned 1,005 adults on Jan. 23 and further information is available at the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.
Citing this, Huh said Friday that, “We have more than 3 million supporters, with a 5.6 percent support rate,” adding “we will remember the judges and court officials who were involved in case our petition for an injunction is not accepted.”
Despite his threats, the court did not take the 5.6 percent rate into account because it is not a survey acknowledged by the NEC. The NEC only acknowledges surveys requested by newspapers with national circulation, terrestrial broadcasters and cable channels dedicated to news. Most of those surveys did not include Huh in questionnaires to respondents.
“Broadcasters are selecting TV debate participants based on strict rules,” a legal representative of the three broadcasters said. “Huh is not eligible as a participant of an NEC-hosted TV debate because his party has no seat in the Assembly and his average support rate did not reach 5 percent.”
Huh Kyung-young, a presidential candidate of the National Revolutionary Party, center, poses with supporters wearing costumes from the Netflix series, “Squid Game,” after applying to be a presidential preliminary candidate at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, in this Oct. 18 file photo. Yonhap
In a number of presidential and mayoral elections, Huh garnered public interest for his seemingly unrealistic pledges as well as eccentric remarks and behavior. Those include that he has levitational powers, that he communicates with aliens and that he has an IQ of over 400. In the 2007 presidential election, he was prosecuted for claiming that he was “conditionally engaged” to former President Park Geun-hye, who was the conservative opposition party at the time.
During the current presidential race, he also grabbed overseas media attention too, with photos of him surrounded by aides wearing costumes from the Netflix series, “Squid Game.”