Ahn Cheol-soo Firming Up Determination for Wanju... "People Power Party Has Made No Contact"

Reiterated at Ulsan Regional Meeting
On Possibility of Vacancy: "How Many Days Left Now"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, explained the reason for the breakdown of unification talks with Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, saying, "(Candidate Yoon) treated me not as a partner in politics but with a hostile attitude." He emphasized his intention to complete the race again, mentioning that there is little time left until the election day.

On the 23rd, at a press conference with local reporters in Nam-gu, Ulsan, Ahn responded to a question about the possibility of unification with Candidate Yoon by saying, "If there were a national primary, I believed there was a much higher chance that I would lose to (Candidate Yoon). Nevertheless, I proposed unification because many citizens wanted it." He added, "Rather, for a week, without any response, only fake rumors spread as if erasing my existence," and firmly stated, "I think it is not appropriate to bow my head while hurting the party members and supporters who back me."

Regarding criticism from some quarters that "Candidate Ahn is stalling," he defended himself by saying, "I have never received any contact from the People Power Party," and "I have spent this time without any communication. The Democratic Party is the same." On the possibility of the Democratic Party proposing unification, he pointed out, "Unification should not be conditional," and added, "Regardless of the election outcome, the party holding 180 seats must have a sense of mission and work for the Republic of Korea."

At the press conference, he also emphasized balanced development plans, including for the Ulsan region. Ahn said, "The first task of the next government, which will be launched in early May, is regional balanced development," and argued, "The only condition for balanced development in our country is that local governments must have financial and legal authority to attract private companies." To this end, he stated that local governments should be explicitly mentioned in the constitution through constitutional amendment. He also believed that financial and legal powers monopolized by the central government should be transferred. He explained, "The ratio of local taxes to central taxes is about 8 to 2, but I think it should be about 6 to 4," adding, "Only then can strategic investments be made in projects considered important locally."

For the development of the Ulsan region, he promised to build new growth engines, including the construction of the ‘Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) Megacity’ and transportation infrastructure. Ahn emphasized, "Ulsan was once a prosperous city, but it is declining because it has failed to create new growth engines," and added, "The combined population of Bu-Ul-Gyeong is 8.5 million. With more investment in infrastructure such as transportation, I believe we can maximize Ulsan’s potential."

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