"Kim Jong-in Likes Post Criticizing Ahn Cheol-soo's Communication as Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in-like"

Article by Jang Jin-young, former spokesperson of the People's Party
Criticism of Chairman Kim and Representative Ahn: "I don't even want to mention them"

Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 14th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, indirectly expressed his opinion by liking a Facebook post criticizing Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the People Party.

Jang Jin-young, a lawyer and former spokesperson for the People Party, posted an article titled "Has Ahn Cheol-soo changed?" on his Facebook page on the 11th. At that time, Jang stated, "In terms of communication, Ahn Cheol-soo is very similar to Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, based on my experience," and added, "His subsequent actions have shown little difference from the past."

He also pointed out, "In the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, he consistently denied running but suddenly declared his candidacy one day," and questioned, "I am curious about who participated in the discussion process during this period."

Jang criticized, "Instead of honestly bringing up issues and leading discussions, he repeats the pattern of denial followed by sudden declarations, both in the past and now."

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People Party, who is running in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, is answering reporters' questions after announcing Seoul's real estate policy at the National Assembly on the 14th. / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, on the 8th, Jang also criticized Ahn in another post titled "Has Ahn Cheol-soo changed? What is the evidence?" At that time, he explained, "I have experience working with Ahn Cheol-soo for six months as the senior supreme council member of the People Party," and added, "Having gone through difficult processes together, I might be one of the closest people to have worked with him."

He continued, "As someone who has witnessed the rise and fall of the third political zone over the past four years, I believe the most important thing for politician Ahn Cheol-soo to do is reflection and repentance," and said, "This might be the answer to why experienced figures like Kim Jong-in, Sohn Hak-kyu, and Yoon Yeo-jun do not feel any change in Ahn Cheol-soo and regard him as 'someone they will never meet again.'"

Chairman Kim expressed his agreement by clicking the 'Like' button on both posts by lawyer Jang. This is interpreted as indirectly revealing a negative view of Ahn.

Chairman Kim is drinking water at the emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 14th. / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, on the 12th, Chairman Kim criticized Ahn Cheol-soo while discussing the unification of opposition candidates for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election. In an interview on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," Kim said, "(Ahn Cheol-soo) is someone I no longer want to mention," and added, "If we want to unify the opposition, we need to be honest. We should not demand that I be the unified candidate."

He continued, "No one made him the unified candidate, but he himself claimed to be the unified candidate," and said, "From a political common sense perspective, that is nonsense. I am not very interested in that (unification)."

However, when asked whether the controversy over unification deepened the emotional rift between him and Ahn, Chairman Kim drew a line, saying, "There is no need to talk about that."

On the 14th, after the emergency committee meeting, Chairman Kim responded to reporters' questions by saying, "As I have repeatedly said, our party is in the process of selecting a candidate through the (Seoul) mayoral primary, so there is no need to discuss such matters now," and added, "Unification will be discussed in early March, and if not, there are only two options: either Ahn Cheol-soo joins our party or something else. I told him to decide and then talk about it."

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