Kim Jong-in: "Yoon Seems Confident and Uninterested in Unification... This Presidential Election Is the First of Its Kind"

An, Wants Public Poll and National Primary Unification

Kim Jong-in, former Chief Election Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is attending the opening ceremony of the campaign office of Joo Seong-young, an independent candidate running in the by-election for the National Assembly in Jung and Nam Districts of Daegu on the 15th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Former People Power Party (PPP) General Election Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in stated regarding the opposition unity that "If necessary, we have no choice but to follow as requested by Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People’s Party."

On the 15th, Kim attended the opening ceremony of the campaign office of Ju Seong-young, an independent candidate running in the by-election for the National Assembly in Jung and Nam districts of Daegu. When asked by reporters about the possibility of opposition unity, he said, "Unity means joining forces when you think you cannot succeed on your own, but that only works if both candidates agree."

He continued, "Since Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party has first proposed unity and passed the ball to Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party, it is now up to Yoon to decide and make a resolution," adding, "If unity is necessary, we have no choice but to follow Ahn’s demands. There is no other way."

He also said, "If unity fails, each will go their own way until the end," and recalled, "During the previous Seoul mayoral by-election, there was so much talk about 'unity, unity' that unity was eventually achieved. At that time, PPP candidates had no confidence without unity, so they agreed to it."

Furthermore, he noted, "But this time, it seems the People Power Party is not very interested in unity," explaining, "Because Yoon Seok-youl is confident he can win independently."

Kim also expressed a pessimistic view of this presidential election. He said, "Honestly, this kind of presidential election is something I have never experienced before. But what can we do? We have no choice but to pick one of the candidates."

Meanwhile, earlier on the 13th, Ahn held a press conference proposing opposition candidate unity to Yoon. He also stated that he wants a public opinion poll primary method like the Ahn Cheol-soo and Oh Se-hoon unity during last April’s Seoul mayoral by-election.

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