Ahn Cheol-soo: "The ruling party throws a rice cake over the new airport... Trying to win the election amid sex crime judgments"

"Clumsy Political Engineering and Petty Vote Manipulation Will Never Succeed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, on the 19th expressed that it is “devastating and shameful” that the Democratic Party of Korea is scrapping the Gimhae New Airport and pushing forward the Gadeokdo New Airport project. He stated, “No matter how recklessly this administration acts, it makes me despair, wondering if the level of our politics and the administration of the Republic of Korea is only this much.”

At the Supreme Council meeting that day, Ahn said, “The ruling party is treating the Gadeokdo New Airport as a foregone conclusion and even leaking the name ‘Roh Moo-hyun Airport.’ They say they will push it through by creating a special law with the power of 180 seats,” adding, “Why is Gadeokdo being brought up? It is precisely because of next year’s Busan mayoral by-election.”

Ahn pointed out, “The Democratic Party’s strategy is to isolate Daegu and Gyeongbuk, make Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam their allies to win next year’s by-election, and then shake up the presidential election two years later. Once the emotional rift between TK (Daegu-Gyeongbuk) and PK (Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam) deepens enough, they will overturn it as if nothing happened, like flipping a Dongnae pajeon (green onion pancake). What they want is not the development of Busan but the victory of the Democratic Party.”

Ahn emphasized, “There must be procedural legitimacy to decide or change large-scale national projects. Especially, overturning national projects decided by the previous administration deals a tremendous blow to the trust and predictability of the Korean government. Therefore, if national projects are to be re-examined, there must be objective and valid reasons. Also, to cancel a decision, judgment must be based on objective, technical, and scientific data.”

Ahn stated, “If not Gimhae Airport, other possible candidate sites must be re-evaluated through a process to gain locational validity. Gadeokdo was already rated the worst by the Paris Airport Engineering Group, a global professional research institution, four years ago,” adding, “The government has the responsibility to prove with scientific data why the analysis back then was wrong and why it is right now. Without securing such procedural legitimacy and locational validity, all future damages will be borne by the citizens of Busan.”

Ahn said, “Ultimately, the Democratic Party is trying to win the election by throwing a ‘rice cake’ called the new airport, turning the judgment election on sexual crimes into a regional development frame. Self-serving politics is fostering regional division and has thrown the basic principles of national policy-making, which should be based on technology, science, and rationality, to the ground,” and asked, “Where else is there a law that decides a national grand project like this just for one election?”

Ahn concluded, “Clumsy political engineering and petty vote-buying schemes will never succeed with mature democratic citizens,” and expressed confidence that “the citizens of Busan, the city that led the end of dictatorship with the Bu-Ma Democratic Uprising, and proudly achieved industrialization through sweat and tears, will never tolerate the Democratic Party’s cunning trick disguised as the Gadeokdo New Airport.”

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