Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo's Opposition Unity Talks 'Break Down'... "'Power Struggle Without Concession' Ruined Negotiations" (Summary)

Disagreements Persist Over Phrases and Wired/Wireless Ratios
Scheduled Practical Negotiation Meeting Also Fails
Emotional Conflict Mentioning Families
Future Negotiation Prospects Become Uncertain
Ballot Printing Is the Second Deadline
Delay Further Undermines Vote Consolidation Effect

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The unification negotiations between the two opposition candidates for Seoul mayor, Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo, failed to reach an agreement by the morning of the 18th. The negotiations needed to be completed by then to allow for a public opinion poll and enable both sides to announce the candidate by the 19th, the target date. With the announcement of the unified opposition candidate postponed to next week, it has become difficult to fully reap the originally expected unification effect.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The People Power Party and the People’s Party had planned to hold a working-level negotiation meeting that morning, but the meeting did not take place. Although there were expectations that both sides might reach an agreement through separate exchanges of opinions, it appears they ultimately failed. Jeong Yang-seok, Secretary-General of the People Power Party, told reporters, "It has become difficult to keep the promise of completing the public opinion poll today and registering the unified candidate tomorrow." Lee Tae-gyu, Secretary-General of the People’s Party, also said, "It has become difficult both physically and politically. Nevertheless, we will not let go of the unification effort and will continue to work on it."

Moreover, as the emotional rift between the two sides has deepened significantly, the future outlook is uncertain. Kwon Eun-hee, floor leader of the People’s Party, criticized on social media, "Using terms like ‘gapjil’ (power abuse) and boasting ‘I am bigger than you, so you must follow my will’ is a dark order that only works in back alleys." Kim Jong-in, emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, harshly criticized Ahn for mentioning his wife, saying, "He seems like a mentally unstable person."

Previously, candidates Oh and Ahn proposed conducting public opinion polls on the 17th and 18th and announcing the final candidate on the 19th. However, as negotiations hit a snag, it became impossible to keep this promise. The working-level negotiation teams had been negotiating based on this schedule but failed to narrow their differences over whether to include landline phone ratios in the poll and whether to conduct hypothetical one-on-one matchups in the competitiveness survey. A method of conducting separate surveys on competitiveness and suitability and then combining the results was also proposed, but significant disagreements remain.

For now, the People Power Party has decided to maintain its position that the public opinion poll should include not only mobile phones but also 10% landline phones. After the emergency committee meeting, Chairman Kim said, "If we only listen to one side’s unilateral claim, there is no need to negotiate," and asserted, "It cannot be achieved." Bae Jun-young, spokesperson for the People Power Party, said, "We consulted the National Election Commission, and the conclusion was that it is reasonable to conduct both mobile and landline phone surveys." The principle that landline phones must be included cannot be abandoned considering groups without mobile phones. The People Power Party cited the Election Commission’s response as a basis, but this strategy also takes into account that landline phone surveys generally favor conservative parties. On the other hand, the People’s Party insists on conducting the poll without landline phones.

As negotiations have stalled, the possibility of conducting public opinion polls by the candidate registration deadline on the 19th has become very low. Initially, both sides intended to reach a conclusion by 9 a.m. that day and start the poll at 10 a.m. to enable the unified candidate announcement the next day. Candidate Oh told reporters, "All possibilities are open," but added, "If it doesn’t happen today or tomorrow, both sides will register candidates with the Election Commission tomorrow and continue negotiations afterward to definitely achieve unification." Realistically, if a unified candidate emerges by the 28th, only that candidate can be listed on the ballot printed on the 29th. However, since the election is only nine days away at that point, the opposition will have to accept some damage to the effect of consolidating forces through unification.

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