The three major presidential candidates are bracing for a series of televised debates starting this week that are likely to greatly affect voter sentiment ahead of the Dec. 19 election.

The main opposition Democratic United Party’s Rep. Moon Jae-in and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo are poised to battle it out in a 100-minute session Wednesday before conducting polls to select a single candidate between them.

Rep. Park Geun-hye, flag-bearer of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, will appear in a debate with a panel of experts on Friday.

TV debates have been a staple of election campaigns since the late 1990s, but the one-on-one duel between Moon and Ahn to be aired live by KBS from 10 p.m. will be a critical occasion in their competition to win the unified ticket in the race for the presidency.

They will engage in discussion on the themes of unified candidacy, politics, economy, society and culture, and foreign affairs, security and national reunification, campaign officials said.

The two candidates have organized special task forces and received debate training.

Moon, former presidential chief-of-staff and an incumbent lawmaker, is confident that he will have an upper hand in the forum.

“Moon survived the in-party primaries and experienced the intense series of televised debates,” said an official of his camp.

The candidate, however, is concerned over his pronunciation and Busan dialect, which he has been trying to overcome with the help of the party’s broadcasting specialists, such as former MBC news anchor Rep. Shin Kyoung-min.

His rival Ahn faces a greater burden as Wednesday’s match is to be his first battle of words since he announced his presidential bid in September.

“Ahn, despite his relatively short political career, has spent years as professor and CEO,” said spokesperson Yoo Min-young.

“He is also apt at instantly grasping the gist of the question and finding the appropriate answer.”

The candidate nevertheless spared an entire afternoon early last week in a studio, rehearsing for the actual televised debate.

His chief trainer was Park Sun-sook, one of his campaigning chiefs and former DUP secretary-general, according to officials.

The debate between Moon and Ahn, slated for 10 p.m. on Wednesday, is to be the first of its kind since the dramatic encounter between Roh Moo-hyun and Chung Mong-joon, who sought to unify their candidacy in 2002.

Meanwhile, Park also focused on refining her speeches and posture, not only for her exclusive debate but eventually for the finals against either Moon or Ahn.

Having reinforced her television debate task force recently, Park cancelled or delayed most of her official schedules in a bid to concentrate on her debate rehearsals this week.

The right-wing candidate is to present herself on television on Thursday and Friday.

She is expected to be bracing herself for questions concerning economic democratization and the historical legacy of her deceased father, former President Park Chung-hee.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)