Ahn Cheol-soo: "A Crazy Candidate Claiming Park Won-soon as Role Model"... Woo Sang-ho: "At Least I'm Not a Political Turncoat"

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, called for the resignation of Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party’s preliminary candidate for Seoul mayor, who made remarks expressing his intention to inherit the policies of the late Park Won-soon, former mayor of Seoul. Woo immediately rebutted, saying, "Switching from one party to another is the worst political act."

On the 15th, at the Supreme Council meeting, Ahn raised his voice, saying, "What the ruling party must do now is to deeply reflect on shamelessly nominating a candidate in the by-election caused by the sexual crimes of two former mayors, and immediately force the insane candidate who considers a criminal suspect mayor as a role model to resign."

He added, "If they do not even do this, it is no different from admitting themselves as a political rogue group unfit to be the ruling party and a public party."

Woo Sang-ho, preliminary candidate for Seoul mayor from the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yonhap News

In response, Woo said, "At least I have never shown political behavior of switching from one party to another."

In a post on his Facebook on the same day, Woo said, "He (Ahn) argued that I should resign, but the public would agree more with my claim that politicians who go back and forth here and there should be expelled."

In an interview with YTN Radio’s 'Hwang Boseon’s Start of a New Morning' on the same day, Woo also said, "I think the worst political act in politics is going back and forth between parties," adding, "This is usually called a 'bird of passage,' and Ahn Cheol-soo has actually switched parties many times. The act of switching party affiliation back and forth is not liked by the public," reiterating his criticism.

Meanwhile, earlier on the 10th, Woo sparked controversy over secondary harm to victims by saying on Facebook, "Mayor Park Won-soon was a role model of innovation for me and a comrade who discussed democracy and human rights," and "I will take the lead in inheriting Mayor Park Won-soon’s policies and advancing his dreams."

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