Ahn Cheol-soo's side: "Stop mocking, Lee must act for unification"... Lee Jun-seok: "Stop the business"

Lee "Passed away suddenly, where is the will?"
Ahn side "People Power Party mocked and threatened during negotiations"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party (left), and Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People Party. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Choi Jin-seok, Standing Election Committee Chairman of the People’s Party, and Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, are engaged in a heated exchange over the responsibility for the failure of the opposition candidate unification.

On the 21st, in an interview on KBS Radio's 'Choi Young-il's Current Affairs Headquarters,' Chairman Choi stated, "Although Candidate Ahn made a sincere proposal, there was no response from Candidate Yoon to that proposal," adding, "Furthermore, Candidate Ahn judged that even if Candidate Yoon had the intention, he clearly had an attitude of humiliation and domination, as incidents continued where Candidate Ahn was even called a 'mori-bae' at a press conference."

Regarding Lee Jun-seok’s remark about 'the deceased’s will,' he said, "It would have been acceptable if such a comment had been made only once, but I was shocked to think that our politics has come to the point where such words can come out of the mouth of a party leader."

Previously, on the 20th, Lee said on KBS Radio's 'Sunday Diagnosis,' "I usually refrain from criticizing condolence-related matters, but I wish such things would stop. The People’s Party says they will conduct election campaigns 'in accordance with the deceased’s will,' but how can they confirm the will when the deceased suddenly passed away? Do the bus drivers for the People’s Party’s campaign buses write wills before entering?"

Chairman Choi said, "I don’t know if the unification negotiation document will be reopened, but negotiations or anything else can only be discussed after taking measures against Lee."

He added, "Candidate Ahn considers the post-unification period more important than the unification itself. Seeing mockery, threats, and strange remarks during the mourning period in the negotiation process, he seems to have judged that 'these people have no intention of unification.'"

Earlier, when Candidate Ahn proposed unification to Candidate Yoon, Lee posted a photo of Son Goku in the palm of Buddha’s hand on his Facebook along with the caption "As expected, as expected," sparking controversy over mockery.

Meanwhile, Lee shared a news article titled 'Ahn’s side: Lee Jun-seok’s mockery and threats were not just once or twice... He must be removed for negotiations or anything else to happen,' writing, "Stop playing with the hearts of the people who wish for regime change."

He added, "Now the People’s Party is starting to speak their minds. From the beginning, removing Lee Jun-seok was necessary to broker deals, gain a position during political realignment or local elections, and so on."

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