Lee Jae-myung on Ahn Cheol-soo's 'Withdrawal of Opposition Unification': "I Sympathize with the Agony... Political Change Must Happen"

Lee: "Political environment where a third option is impossible leads to 'obstruction' and old-structure politics"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 20th, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed his support for Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People’s Party, regarding Ahn’s 'withdrawal from opposition unification,' stating, "I empathize with Candidate Ahn’s desire and will for ending the old political system and for political change toward new politics."

Lee made this remark through a post on social networking services (SNS) on the same day, saying, "I sympathize with Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo’s anguish."

Candidate Ahn held a press conference and said, "If South Korea can end division and conflict and move toward unity and the future, if we can end the old system and open an era of science and practicality, I will not compromise with injustice under any circumstances and will take the right path even if it means suffering losses," announcing his withdrawal from unification talks with Yoon Seok-youl, the candidate of the People Power Party.

Candidate Ahn claimed that although a week has passed since his unification proposal, Candidate Yoon has not responded, and the sincerity of the proposal has been distorted by those around him, asserting that the responsibility for the breakdown of the unification negotiations lies with the People Power Party side.

In response, Candidate Lee said, "Under the 1987 system, the two-party monopoly forced the people to choose between two options, and the political environment where a third choice was impossible gave rise to old system politics where the failure of the opponent became my opportunity, and obstructing rather than fair competition was the norm," emphasizing, "Now, we must move beyond the worse 'blind regime change' to a better 'political change,' and political change must lead to social change and an era change."

He added, "In this serious situation where domestic and international crises threaten the future, we must end the regressive political strife of the old system and move toward the future and unity for South Korea’s change and reform."

Lee Yang-su, the chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, also released a statement after Candidate Ahn’s press conference, saying, "We fully understand the sincerity expressed by Candidate Ahn today," and added, "We hope to continue working together for regime change."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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