Kim Jong-in and Ahn Cheol-soo to Meet...? Signal for Opposition Alliance if Meeting Happens

United Future Party 'Expanding the Centrist Base' - People's Party 'Highlighting Presence'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Political circles are focusing on whether Kim Jong-in, emergency committee chairman of the United Future Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, will meet. Currently, the United Future Party needs the People’s Party to expand its reach to the moderate voter base, while the People’s Party needs the United Future Party to highlight its presence. Analysts say that if Chairman Kim and Leader Ahn meet in person, it could signal the start of an opposition alliance.

A People’s Party official told Asia Economy on the 15th that there are "no behind-the-scenes contacts (for a meeting) at this time" regarding the possibility of a meeting between Chairman Kim and Leader Ahn. While the People’s Party said policy discussions are possible, they clearly drew a line on opposition unification.

Leader Ahn has kept his distance from an alliance with the United Future Party so far. However, the atmosphere has subtly changed since the launch of Kim’s emergency committee. After the Supreme Council meeting on the 12th, Leader Ahn said about meeting Chairman Kim, "There will be an opportunity," adding, "The opposition must be reborn through competition and gain the trust of the people to broaden its base for a future, which remains my fundamental belief, but in the current state, nothing can be done." Chairman Kim said on the 11th at a luncheon with out-of-Seoul party branch chiefs in the northeastern region, "I guess I will meet (Leader Ahn) someday."

With only three seats, the People’s Party essentially must form an alliance with other parties. This is because even to propose a bill, the support of more than 10 lawmakers is required. Earlier, on the 6th of last month during KBS Radio’s "Open Debate," Leader Ahn said, "To implement the policies (proposed by the People’s Party), it is the operational principle of the National Assembly to join hands with any party that agrees," adding, "The view that we must ally only 100% with either the ruling or opposition party is not correct."

It is also noteworthy that the United Future Party and the People’s Party have recently voiced a united stance on current issues. Both parties are fiercely criticizing the ruling party, saying the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee should belong to the opposition in the National Assembly’s organization. Furthermore, when Chairman Kim promoted the introduction of a basic income, Leader Ahn said he would focus on reviewing a "Korean-style basic income (K-basic income)" plan that prioritizes distribution to vulnerable groups.

However, the accumulated animosity between Chairman Kim and Leader Ahn remains a variable. In February, on CBS Radio, Chairman Kim harshly criticized Leader Ahn for modeling himself after French President Emmanuel Macron, saying, "After all this time and trying various things, suddenly now he says he must embrace Macron’s spirit, but I don’t think anything will be achieved," and, "His basic thinking seems somewhat different from Macron’s. Macron is someone who appeared with concrete plans, but Leader Ahn talks a lot without any particularly concrete plans."

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