Lee Jun-seok on Opposition Candidate Unification Issue: "Support Rate Makes Sole Inclusion Difficult"

"Rather, Current Support Rate for Candidate Ahn May Be Distant from Conservative Tendencies"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at a youth talk concert held in front of Lotte Department Store in Nam-gu, Ulsan City, on the afternoon of the 5th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, emphasized on the 8th that even if the unification between presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is achieved, "it is unlikely that the support will be fully and solely transferred to our candidate." He added, "It is difficult to participate in the election and then withdraw after incurring considerable costs," predicting that (Candidate Ahn) will make a political decision before this Friday.

On the same day, on KBS Radio’s 'Choi Kyung-young’s Strong Current Affairs,' Lee said, "When we talk about unification, in a narrow sense, it means unification through opinion polls," adding, "We are not in direct communication with Candidate Ahn’s side, and we are not considering unification through opinion polls or anything like that at all."

When asked if the phrase "the situation Candidate Ahn is in" meant that his approval ratings are low, Lee said, "Unlike early January when Candidate Ahn was gaining momentum with a positive mood, there is now a clear downward trend in various opinion polls," and conveyed the party’s internal view that "as we analyzed back then, a significant portion of the support that had shifted to Candidate Ahn has now returned to our candidate (Candidate Yoon), so the support Candidate Ahn currently holds may be somewhat distant from conservative tendencies."

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, is speaking at the presidential candidate invitation Kwanhoon debate held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 8th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "Even if something is achieved through the unification process, the party internally perceives that it is unlikely that the support will be fully and solely transferred to our candidate."

Regarding his earlier remark that "the unification will be decided before this Friday (the 11th)," Lee said, "There are key decision points in an election," adding, "One of them will be Friday." He also said, "It seems that people around Candidate Ahn are conveying various messages to our party," and "I expect there will be changes."

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