Kim Jae-won Warns People Power Party: "Ahn Cheol-soo Will Complete Presidential Race... Don't Hurt His Pride"

"Ultimately a factional battle, will converge to two candidates"

Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, warned the party leadership that Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People Party who declared his presidential bid, will complete the election race and that "no approach should be made recklessly."

On the 2nd, Kim said on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' program, "So far, we (People Power Party) have provoked Ahn's pride and escalated the conflict. This could become the biggest variable in the presidential election phase."

He believed that Ahn would not agree to candidate unification. Kim said, "He will race to the runoff," explaining, "He thinks that both our party and the Democratic Party candidates, who have already gone through the party primaries, have shown many weaknesses, so he believes the opportunity to re-enter has come."

When asked if Ahn's completion of the race would be a nightmare for the People Power Party, he emphasized, "Even if we think so, we must use all possible means to move forward together."

Regarding whether Ahn's completion would act as a vote-splitting factor against the People Power Party, he said, "It is very significant," adding, "I believe Ahn will firmly continue with the intention to complete the race, and only through candidate unification or merger procedures can this be resolved."

He further stated, "If we approach this as if he is just trying to raise his price and bargaining power, or 'he came out just to get a high price like for cattle,' we can never work together," warning, "This will not only escalate the conflict but also become a decisive misstep in the presidential election phase." Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, appeared on a radio show in May during the merger talks with the People Party, expressing a positive stance on the merger but saying, "To put it metaphorically, we will pay generously for the cattle price, but we cannot pay a single penny for the hastily formed party organization," which sparked outrage from the People Party side.

However, he predicted that ultimately the presidential election structure would form around the two camps rather than a 'middle ground' centered on moderates. He said, "This presidential election will really become a big camp battle. Since the introduction of direct presidential elections in our political sphere, this is almost the first time since the 1:1 showdown between Moon Jae-in and Park Geun-hye," adding, "Currently, the gaps in the middle ground are visible due to various issues during the primary process, but ultimately, it will converge to two candidates."

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