Ahn Cheol-soo's Value Soars as He Follows His Own Path... Focusing on 'COVID-19 and Dual Special Investigations'

Regarding the proposal for cooperation, "Don't indulge in vain dreams"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Recently, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, who has gained momentum with rising approval ratings, is asserting his presence through proactive actions such as responding to the COVID-19 crisis and demanding a dual special investigation. Candidate Ahn has emphasized his policy capabilities by disclosing resources related to COVID-19 measures.

On the 29th, Candidate Ahn held a ‘COVID-19 Funding Securing Press Conference’ at the National Assembly, stating, "A new approach is necessary to prepare for the prolonged COVID-19 situation," and proposed "the enactment of a special law to establish a COVID-19 special account." His plan involves securing up to 30 trillion won for COVID-19 response funding by allocating 7 trillion won from 10% of value-added tax and 10% of individual consumption tax, 10 trillion won through government expenditure restructuring, and 3 trillion won via civil servant restructuring. Previously, Candidate Ahn has focused most of his regional activities and press conferences on COVID-19 disaster response, emphasizing himself as the ‘Quarantine President.’

With about 70 days left until the presidential election, while the approval ratings of the major party candidates from both ruling and opposition parties have declined simultaneously, Candidate Ahn’s approval ratings have recently rebounded. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) from the 24th to the 25th (with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), Candidate Ahn’s support rose by 2.7 percentage points from the previous week to 7.3%. (For detailed information, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.) In addition, several recent polls have shown Candidate Ahn maintaining support in the 7-8% range.

Consequently, ‘recruitment love calls’ from both ruling and opposition parties continue. Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, recently expressed in two media interviews that "(Candidate Ahn) is a person necessary for national development," and "If Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, is elected, he will incorporate many good ideas from Candidate Ahn," indicating willingness for alliance. The People Power Party’s election committee also initiated alliance efforts by recruiting Professor Kim Min-jeon of Kyung Hee University, who was a former mentor to Candidate Ahn. However, Candidate Ahn has drawn a line on such situations, saying, "Don’t dream vain dreams." Meanwhile, Lee Tae-gyu, the general election campaign headquarters chief of the People’s Party, hinted at the possibility of future unification on a radio show that day, stating, "At some point, there may come a day when the opposition competes over who is the right person for regime change."

Amid this, Candidate Ahn is emphasizing a ‘dual special investigation’ and cooperating with the Justice Party, a third force. They have been holding a sit-in protest at the National Assembly since the previous day and met with National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok that morning to convey their demand for special investigations into candidates Lee and Yoon.

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