[Unification Politics] Ahn Cheol-soo: "I Will Endure Even If It Is Disadvantageous and Unreasonable"

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People's Party candidate for Seoul mayor, is holding a press conference on the 19th at the National Assembly Communication Hall regarding the "unification with Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor." Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Unification is an art. Masterpieces require labor pains. The unification of Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo, who emerged as key figures in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, has for now passed an important hurdle.

On the 19th, candidate Ahn announced that he would accept the unification public opinion poll method demanded by the People Power Party, which includes a 'competitiveness survey + 10% landline phone ratio.' At an emergency press conference, he said, "Even if it is disadvantageous and unreasonable, I will endure it if unification can be achieved quickly."

As both candidates showed close support, they continued a tug-of-war without concession, seeing a high possibility of victory if unification was achieved. It appears that candidate Ahn became aware that if the wounds deepen further, the effect of unification would be diminished. Although there is still physical time left until the ballot printing day on the 29th, the official election campaign period begins on the 25th, making a swift negotiation settlement urgent.

Candidate Oh's side, based on People Power Party supporters, argued that the question should be who is 'appropriate' as the unified candidate and that the landline phone method, which reflects conservative public opinion significantly, should be partially included. On the other hand, candidate Ahn, who is understood to have relatively more support from the undecided voters, insisted that the competitiveness question should be about who can 'win' against Park Young-sun of the Democratic Party, but eventually yielded.

Due to the Korean Land and Housing Corporation (LH) speculation scandal, public sentiment against the ruling party has worsened, and expectations that the conservative opposition's unification could lead directly to victory in the general election have grown, intensifying the tension between the two sides. Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, also deepened the rift by hurling harsh criticisms at candidate Ahn, calling him a "crazy person."

Unification has been a recurring issue in past elections. The late former President Kim Dae-jung failed to unify with the late former President Kim Young-sam in the 1987 presidential election but achieved a dramatic victory ten years later through the so-called ‘DJP (Kim Dae-jung·Kim Jong-pil) coalition.’ The formula that victory can be secured only by expanding beyond the ‘concrete support base’ to the middle ground was imprinted. Over the past decade, candidate Ahn has been at the center of unification controversies. He supported the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and even declared a white flag after negotiating unification with President Moon Jae-in. This time is another test. We have closely analyzed the political calculations and past cases surrounding the by-election unification.

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