[Report] The Honam Public Sentiment That Favored ‘Anpung’ 4 Years Ago... "Now They Don't Even Mention That Person"

Cold Public Sentiment Toward Former Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo
"Using Honam for Personal Gain"
Generational Opposition to 'Ahn's New Party'
Divided Opinions on Third-Force Unified Party

Former Bareunmirae Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo is entering the National Assembly on the 29th to hold a press conference announcing his withdrawal from the party.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[GwangjuㆍMokpo=Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] "So, why does Ahn Cheol-soo keep leaving the party and wandering around? Coming back from abroad and all. Nobody even knows where he’s going next." (Ban Mo (56), resident of Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju)

On the 30th at Gwangju Songjeong Station, Jo Mo (83) expressed dissatisfaction about former Bareunmirae Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, saying, "That person is a bad one. He just pokes around here and there, testing the waters. How can someone like that become a political leader?" Lee Mo (71), a native of Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, also showed a lukewarm reaction, saying, "There was some wind during the last general election, but now people don’t even talk about him in the region."

Honam has traditionally been considered a stronghold of the Democratic Party of Korea, but in the 20th general election, an unexpected 'incident' occurred where the predicted outcome was overturned. The People’s Party swept an astonishing 23 out of 28 seats in the entire Honam region, creating a green wave. At the center of this was former lawmaker Ahn. However, the current public sentiment in Honam toward Ahn is cold compared to four years ago. Bang Mo (65), a taxi driver in Gwangju, said, "We trusted Ahn and supported the People’s Party in Honam, but it split into Bareunmirae Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace. Honestly, it feels like Ahn used Honam for his personal ambition."

Especially across generations, there was strong aversion to Ahn’s founding of a new party. Lee Mo (25), a student at Chonnam National University, said, "Ahn’s image has deteriorated a lot. It seems he lost his original intention. Creating a new party doesn’t look good." Kim Mo (25) also frowned, saying, "Trust has dropped a lot, and now with the new party founding, it drops even more." Kang Mo (40), whom we met in Yonghae-dong, Mokpo, harshly criticized, "I dislike Ahn. He leaves the party again this time, and whenever he fails, he runs away instead of taking responsibility."

Students of Chonnam National University are leaving the school on the 30th.

Public sentiment in Gwangju and Mokpo showed the Democratic Party’s dominance along with some support for Honam-based parties. Choi Mo (70), living in Buk-gu, Gwangju, said, "People our age are all Democrats. When haven’t we been Democrats?" Lee Mo (34), working at a company in Gwangju, said, "I felt a lot of disappointment with President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party this time. I support the Bareunmirae Party. Support for the third zone unified party isn’t high, but it’s somewhat rising."

Opinions were divided on the third zone unification of Bareunmirae Party, Alternative New Party, and Party for Democracy and Peace. Lee Mo (48), a native of Gwangju, said, "I view leaders Sohn Hak-kyu and Chung Dong-young positively here. If they all merge, it would be good," but emphasized, "If it’s 1 (Democratic Party):1 (third zone unified party):1 (Ahn Cheol-soo’s new party), it will be tough. They will definitely lose to the Democratic Party. Everyone must unite."

On the other hand, Kim Mo (43), a housewife living in Mokpo, flatly said she would "not vote" for the third zone unified party.

According to a poll conducted by Realmeter commissioned by tbs on the 28th-29th, party support in Honam was: Democratic Party 61.3%, Liberty Korea Party 10.6%, Justice Party 4.5%, Bareunmirae Party 3.8%, Minjung Party 3.3%, Alternative New Party 2.9%, Party for Democracy and Peace 2.5%. This survey contacted 31,251 voters nationwide aged 18 and over, with 1,508 completing responses, recording a 4.8% response rate. The sampling error is ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.