People Party Urges Oh Se-hoon’s Task Force to "Engage in Negotiations Today"

Itaegyu "Negotiations Must Be Hastened to Alleviate Supporters' Anxiety"

Lee Tae-gyu, Secretary General of the People Party [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The Ahn Cheol-soo camp, the People’s Party candidate for Seoul mayor, urged the Oh Se-hoon camp, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, to promptly come to the negotiation table. Considering the tight schedule, negotiations should begin as early as today.

On the 9th, Lee Tae-gyu, Secretary General of the People’s Party and head of Ahn’s working negotiation team, held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and stated, "We request the People Power Party’s unification working negotiation team to actively engage in negotiations so that practical discussions can proceed within today."

Earlier that morning, in an interview with BBS Radio’s ‘Park Kyung-soo’s Morning Journal,’ Lee said in response to the question ‘Have practical discussions started?’ that "There has been no contact yet," and added, "After forming the negotiation team yesterday, I requested to meet today to proceed with practical discussions."

At the press conference, Lee said, "Since both candidates have already agreed to decide on a unified candidate before the candidate registration day, there should be no disagreement on quickly advancing the working negotiation discussions."

He continued, "Considering the candidate registration day, we do not have much time left," and emphasized again, "Negotiations must be expedited to alleviate supporters’ anxieties."

He explained, "Many people still think that unifying the opposition candidates will be difficult," and added, "If negotiations conclude early, it will instill confidence of victory among the people supporting the opposition."

Previously, on the night of the 7th, candidates Oh and Ahn met and agreed to unify before candidate registration, and on the following day, the 8th, both sides finalized the appointments for their working negotiation teams.

Accordingly, the working negotiation teams from both sides are expected to hold negotiation sessions within this week to discuss the method of selecting the unified candidate and the format of the TV debates. After the press conference, Lee told reporters, "We will discuss how to select the candidate and how to conduct the TV debates." He added, "TV debates should be held within this week, and candidate selection surveys should also begin. Only then, after absorbing the supporters and party members from both sides, can the unified candidate be registered on the 18th, which aligns with the purpose of unification."

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