People Power Party and Democratic Party's 'Unification Love Call' to Ahn Cheol-soo... Will the President Be in Ahn's Hands?

Lee Taegyu Agrees with Ruling Party's Direction on Unified Government
Ahn Rejects Possibility of Unification, People Power Party Attempts to Reconcile
Kim Jongin: "Unification Is Already Completed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] With less than two weeks remaining until the presidential election, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, appears to be receiving simultaneous love calls between unification and a coalition government. This is because the Democratic Party of Korea has concretized the coalition government theory, and the People Power Party is also taking an active stance, saying there is still a possibility of candidate unification. Candidate Ahn showed a cautious position.

On the 24th, after concluding the election countermeasures committee meeting at the National Assembly, Ahn told reporters, "I judged that time had passed when the unification breakdown was declared," once again dismissing the possibility. He also stated that he has not received any contact from candidate Yoon.

The People’s Party also took an attitude of leaving room for the Democratic Party’s ‘love call.’ On the same day, Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, officially proposed a political reform plan guaranteeing a multi-party system to opposition candidates including Ahn and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party. Regarding this, Director Lee appeared on CBS Radio and said, "Generally, for Korean politics to change, it must go in that direction, so there is no reason to deny that part itself," but added, "It is unreasonable to connect that with alliance and unification." He further said, "There has been no discussion at the candidate or party level," and "The candidate will express his position if necessary."

The People Power Party is focusing on reconciling conflicts between the two parties to unify the opposition. After the election countermeasures committee meeting on the same day, Kwon Young-se, head of the People Power Party’s election countermeasures headquarters, told reporters, "Regarding opposition integration, currently, regime change is what the absolute majority of the people want, and since opposition integration is for regime change, the party will continue to make efforts in that regard."

Although the People Power Party has not let go of the thread of unification, with little time left until the presidential election and escalating conflicts between the two parties, the situation has become more complicated. The day before, when Director Lee revealed that Leader Lee proposed unification based on a merger in early February, Leader Lee denied it, saying they met to finalize merger discussions, intensifying the controversy. Regarding this, Director Kwon attempted reconciliation, saying, "Yesterday, the two had press conferences once each, and it seems almost settled," and "There is almost no factual dispute, and I think it is nothing special."

On the same day, former People Power Party general election committee chairman Kim Jong-in expressed the view that unification is practically off the table. Kim said, "If you carefully read between the lines of candidate Ahn’s unification statement, unification is already over," and "I think further unification will be difficult to achieve." Kim also said, "After unification broke down, there are reports of who met whom and negotiated, but I do not think these were official negotiations."

He also interpreted that candidate Yoon did not accept unification. Kim said, "When candidate Yoon did not accept Ahn’s offer, it was because he was confident that he could proceed as is," and "Candidate Yoon is leading in the polls, so what would he be afraid of not accepting it? He should have accepted it." Kim defined this judgment as a ‘misconception.’ He recalled the 2002 presidential election, saying, "Didn’t people say (Lee Hoi-chang) would almost certainly become the Grand National Party’s presidential candidate?" and "In the end, he lost to candidate Roh Moo-hyun, so those analyzing the election should read it with a cold perspective." He also expressed the view that there is no time left for poll-based unification. Kim said, "(Unification through polls within the remaining two weeks of the presidential election) is impossible," and "I also think unification through a final negotiation is impossible."

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