Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo Unite Beyond Negotiation Deadline: "Standing at the Edge of the Cliff" (Comprehensive)

No progress beyond including party names in questions
Power struggle continues in morning talks
Goal to finalize agreement by this afternoon for unified candidate selection on the 19th
If negotiations drag on, supporter unity becomes difficult, reducing effectiveness

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The final negotiation for unification between the two opposition candidates for Seoul mayor, Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo, began on the morning of the 17th but has yet to resolve disputes over the polling questions. Both sides remain at an impasse over the polling questions and methods, continuing negotiations past the deadline and agreeing to proceed into the afternoon. The negotiation must be concluded by the afternoon to conduct a same-day poll and announce the unified candidate by the targeted date of the 19th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The working-level negotiation teams of the People Power Party and the People’s Party continued discussions late into the previous night but only agreed to include party names in the polling questions. After holding a joint meeting once, each party is now separately discussing negotiation proposals. Jung Yang-seok, Secretary-General of the People Power Party, said, "Negotiations are ongoing today," and added, "The negotiation teams of both parties are scheduled to meet again in the afternoon to coordinate." The originally tacitly agreed negotiation deadline was the morning. The continuation into the afternoon means that the upcoming polling schedule and related plans are inevitably affected.

The morning negotiation session began with a battle of wills over the publicly disclosed negotiation details. Earlier, candidate Oh criticized on a radio show, saying, "(Ahn’s side) is insisting on using a method that has never been used in political history, asking questions like who is advantageous or disadvantageous." In response, Lee Tae-gyu, Secretary-General of the People’s Party, rebutted, "That statement shows a complete lack of understanding of the facts," and added, "One of the ways to measure competitiveness is through hypothetical matchups." Regarding the polling questions, the People Power Party is reportedly advocating a mixed approach combining suitability favored by candidate Oh and competitiveness favored by candidate Ahn.

The method of conducting the poll is also a point of contention. The People Power Party proposed mixing landline numbers into the safe numbers composed only of mobile phones, which sparked controversy. Safe numbers were introduced to avoid bias in data caused by using landline numbers, so this proposal is seen as regressive. Secretary-General Lee said, "They are suggesting mixing landline numbers, which is an absolutely unreasonable claim," indicating no room for compromise.

As negotiations continue into the afternoon, there is also talk that the polling period may be shortened from two days to one. Whether a sufficient sample can be secured in this case remains to be seen. Typically, more than 1,000 samples are collected, and the polling process requires 6 to 12 hours. The initial allocation of two days for polling was for this reason. If samples are insufficient, statistical adjustments will be necessary, which could lead to further controversy.

If unification is not achieved by the 19th, the final deadline for unification could be the ballot printing day (29th) or early voting day (the 2nd of next month). However, in this case, the election itself could unfold amid unification negotiations, and it is analyzed that the chemical bonding of opposition supporters would be difficult, diminishing the effect of unification.

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