Ahn Cheol-soo Proposes Unification to Yoon Seok-yeol... "The Right Candidate is for the People to Decide" (Comprehensive)

Proposal for Agreement Method in Seoul Mayor Election Unification
Also Seen Tearful Upon News of Wife's Positive Diagnosis

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Bom Ryeong Geum, Junyi Park] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, proposed a 'unification of opposition forces' to Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party. As a method of unification, he suggested a 'national primary opinion poll' and requested that after selecting the candidate, they run the election campaign together as 'running mates.'

On the morning of the 13th, Ahn held a special press conference on his YouTube channel and said, "For a better regime change, to end the old system and pursue national unity, I propose the unification of opposition candidates," adding, "I expect a sincere response from candidate Yoon to my proposal."

Ahn emphasized, "Unification of candidates for a better regime change is more about what the unification is for than who becomes the candidate. This unification of opposition candidates should be a coalition and alliance for moving toward the future," and "It must encompass the vision of regime change, political change, and era change, and the result must lead to an overwhelming victory."

He also argued that the unification should be entrusted to the people's choice. Ahn explained, "First, jointly announce the next government's national vision and innovation tasks to the public and promise to implement them. Then, select a unified candidate through a national primary opinion poll. Whoever becomes the candidate, if they become each other's running mates, they can lead to an overwhelming victory," adding, "If we leave it entirely to the people's judgment on who is more suitable to lead the future, the primary will not be complicated or delayed."

Specifically, he referred to the method agreed upon during the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election. Ahn said, "I was the person who made the decision to accept all conditions in the last Seoul mayoral by-election and laid the foundation for regime change," and "There is a method and questions agreed upon at that time. Therefore, there is no reason to discuss the unification primary method again as a point of contention." He added, "If we respect the existing method agreed upon by the two parties in the last Seoul mayoral by-election based on common sense, as candidate Yoon said, it can be settled in a short time."

Meanwhile, on the same day, when his spouse, Professor Kim Mi-kyung of Seoul National University, was diagnosed with COVID-19, Ahn canceled all his schedules in the Busan area to wait for his own PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test results. At the press conference, Ahn mentioned Professor Kim with a choked voice, saying, "My wife has underlying health conditions. Nevertheless, she helped with my election campaign and volunteered in medical services, and it seems this happened because of that," and "She is suffering a lot, and as her husband, I feel very sorry."

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