[Summary] On Ahn Cheol-soo and Oh Se-hoon Unification... Ruling Party: "Collusion of the Resignation King and the Withdrawal King" vs Opposition: "Childish"

與 "A Political Show and Nothing But a Political Collusion"
Opposition "Democratic Party, Is Even the Unification 'Double Standards'?"

Oh Se-hoon, People Power Party candidate for Seoul Mayor (left) · Ahn Cheol-soo, People Party candidate for Seoul Mayor (right). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 21st, Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, and Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party candidate, who are running in the Seoul mayoral by-election, reached a final agreement on unification, but reactions from both ruling and opposition parties are divided. While the ruling party dismissed it as a "political show and a political collusion," the opposition retorted, "If you envy, you lose."

Heo Young, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea’s Central Election Countermeasures Committee, issued a statement on the day, saying, "Although it seems like a beautiful concession between the two, Seoul citizens were absent in the unification process," and criticized, "There was no verification of policies and visions, and it was a predictable political show and political collusion where they revealed their ambitions under the guise of concession."

He added, "The calculator they were tapping to win unification overheated, causing the vision presentation to be postponed, and even in the hard-won broadcast debate, they were busy finding faults with each other," and said, "Candidate Ahn talked about merging with the People Power Party, which he had absolutely refused to join, and Candidate Oh once again played the resignation card regarding the land speculation in Naegok-dong."

He sarcastically remarked, "It is embarrassing to look for policies and visions in a unification filled with abusive attacks such as 'retired king,' 'sowing discord,' and 'mentally unstable person,'" and said, "Citizens are criticizing this unification as a battle between the 'king of resignations' vs. the 'king of withdrawals.'"

Heo also said, "I hope the two candidates face why they ran for Seoul mayor. I hope they reflect on whether they have been consumed by the desire to elevate themselves rather than to elevate the citizens," and added, "With candidates threatening with resignation and begging for merger, Seoul has become a place where lies and ambition run rampant."

O Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor.
Photo by Yonhap News

In response, the opposition said, "Do not belittle the unification." Kim Cheol-geun, spokesperson for the People Power Party’s Seoul mayoral by-election campaign committee, wrote on his Facebook on the day, "Democratic Party, please do not belittle the unification," and said, "Unification happens according to the demands of public sentiment in the context of the times. The current unification between Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo is in response to the public’s command to judge the Moon Jae-in administration and to change the regime starting from Seoul."

He continued, "Is the Democratic Party practicing double standards even on unification? When I unify, it is 'integration,' but when others do, it is 'collusion'?" and raised his voice, "It is truly unbearable to watch. If you envy, you lose. Are you afraid of the Oh Se-hoon?Ahn Cheol-soo unification agreement? This time, the unified candidate will win."

Jo Su-jin, spokesperson for the same party’s campaign committee, also said in a statement on the day, "'Alliance' is to pursue shared values," and opened by saying, "Candidates Oh and Ahn pushed for an alliance to judge the arrogance and dogmatism of the Moon Jae-in administration, the power-type sexual harassment of the previous mayor, and the Democratic Party’s collective 'secondary victimization,' and the alliance was achieved."

She added, "Democratic Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate Park Young-sun activated her campaign with the 'three complainants' including lawmakers Go Min-jung and Nam In-soon, and became the party candidate by competing against the faction that claimed 'Woo Sang-ho is Park Won-soon, and Park Won-soon is Woo Sang-ho,'" and said, "Afterwards, she became one with the ruling party’s second-string candidate who claimed 'Park Won-soon’s legacy is dazzling.' Isn’t this 'collusion'?" she questioned.

She also pointed out, "The Democratic Party should stop spitting on the opposition’s 'value alliance' through their spokesperson and reflect on their strange 'secondary victimization alliance' first."

Ahn Cheol-soo, People's Party candidate for Seoul mayor.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Ahn Hye-jin, spokesperson for the People’s Party, also issued a statement on the same day, saying, "As the public’s call for regime judgment intensifies and the opposition unification nears its end, the Democratic Party is cowardly spewing petty insults at the unification process," and criticized, "They call the unification agreement between Candidate Ahn and Candidate Oh a 'political collusion' and even resort to elementary-level childish words, while subtly throwing poisoned needles at the opposition as if the serious political decline has nothing to do with them."

She added, "Have they already forgotten the heavy responsibility of wasting nearly 100 billion won of taxpayers’ money due to the disgusting sexual harassment by former Seoul and Busan mayors Park Won-soon and Oh Keo-don?" and said, "No matter how shameless the regime is, as human beings, there should be inner shame, but instead of reflecting, their criticism, which seems to mock themselves, only brings out hollow laughter."

She further attacked, "Is it true that 'pigs see only pigs'?" and said, "A group accustomed to political shows with zero sincerity, hiding their ambition under their nails and playing the victim, seems to think that the only way to survive is to poke and twist their opponents to cover their own shame."

Finally, Ahn’s spokesperson said, "Continuing outdated political acts only fuels public outrage," and added, "The public is ready to rise up and strike down the vote-buying acts of hypocrites wearing masks."

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