OH AND AHN TO HOLD TELEVISED DEBATE

[Anchor Lead]

Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo, two candidates for Seoul mayor, are at odds over who should become the single candidate representing their parties. After squaring off for days, the two have finally agreed to hold one televised debate and two public opinion polls.

[Pkg]

At the first meeting of the People Power Party's election committee, Oh Se-hoon unleashed his criticism of Ahn Cheol-soo.

[Soundbite] Oh Se-hoon(PPP's Seoul Mayor candidate) : "If Ahn Cheol-soo becomes mayor and other influential party members join hands, the opposition camp will become 100 percent divided."

Oh's criticism targets Ahn's recent remarks in which he said many people dislike the PPP and that he's sure to win the election because he stands apart from the past era. The PPP's interim chief Kim Chong-in also criticized Ahn.

[Soundbite] Kim Chong-in(Interim chief, PPP) : "I don't think someone who can't even have a debate properly can become a Seoul mayor candidate."

Ahn said Oh's remarks about division in the opposition camp were shocking and astonishing. As for Kim, Ahn said he doubts Kim is serious enough about fielding a single candidate.

[Soundbite] Ahn Cheol-soo(People Party's Seoul Mayor candidate) : "Now that their approval ratings are going up on the land speculation scandal, they want to have a three-candidate showdown."

Some watchers believe the two parties may never reach an agreement on a single candidate, but later in the afternoon, Oh apologized to Ahn for his blunt language. Meanwhile, the two parties have agreed to hold one televised debate and two public opinion polls. The Democratic Party's Seoul mayor candidate, Park Young-sun, has unveiled her policy on eradicating child abuse by cooperating with police.

[Soundbite] Park Young-sun(DP's Seoul Mayor candidate) : "As the first female mayor, I will make sure that child abuse tragedies of the past are never repeated again."

Open Democratic Party candidate Kim Jin-ai is calling for expanding the special counsel to probe not only the LH land speculation scandal - an idea proposed by Park Young-sun -- but also the four-river restoration and Sejong City development projects.