"Yoon Seok-yeol to Meet Ahn Cheol-soo Directly"... Possibility of Dramatic Weekend Agreement

The Unification Must Be Finalized by the 27th
Before Ballot Printing for Effectiveness

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party presidential candidate (left), and Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party presidential candidate
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Boryeong Geum] The opposition party unification, regarded as the biggest turning point in this presidential election, is increasingly likely to be dramatically resolved over the weekend. It has been reported that Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, will soon directly contact Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, to propose a meeting for discussions on opposition unification. A People Power Party official said in a phone call on the 25th, "Candidate Yoon has personally expressed his intention to meet Candidate Ahn," adding, "We are internally discussing and coordinating the schedule for the meeting with Candidate Ahn."

Candidate Yoon’s side is extremely reserved and is carefully considering the timing to contact Candidate Ahn. A People Power Party election headquarters official said, "The People’s Party was in the middle of a mourning period last week, which delayed unification talks by a week," and added, "Candidate Yoon has believed from the beginning that unification must happen, so he has been looking for the right timing." It is reported that Candidate Yoon has expressed his intention to halt the divided channels of unification discussions both inside and outside the party and to handle it ‘directly’ himself. He is also seeking advice on unification by contacting Kim Han-gil, former Democratic Party leader, and Kim Hyun-chul, Dongguk University distinguished professor and son of former President Kim Young-sam.

Meanwhile, voices demanding unification are emerging both inside and outside the party. A senior member of the People Power Party said, "There is a flood of demands from supporters for unification," and added, "I understand that Candidate Ahn’s side is also considering various possibilities such as merger and joint government. It doesn’t seem like they have no intention at all." Another senior member said, "Since both candidates share the grand goal of regime change, they need to sincerely make efforts to bring their opinions closer," and added, "Candidate Yoon will do his best."

Former regional chairpersons of the People’s Party also held a press conference on the same day urging unification. Woo Il-sik, former secretary-general of the People’s Party, called on Candidate Ahn to "take a bold stance on unification for the sake of regime judgment and regime change, which the absolute majority of the people want, without any conditions."

With only 12 days left until the presidential election, if unification is delayed further, Candidate Yoon’s approval rating could be damaged. The gap between the approval ratings of Candidate Yoon and Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, has recently narrowed significantly. According to a poll conducted by Realmeter commissioned by OhmyNews from March 20 to 23 targeting 2,038 adults nationwide aged 18 and over (with a sampling error of ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), the two candidates were only 1.4 percentage points apart within the margin of error. Compared to the previous poll, Candidate Yoon’s rating dropped by 1.0 percentage point, while Candidate Lee’s rose by 1.8 percentage points. According to a poll conducted by Korea Research International commissioned by MBC from March 22 to 23 targeting 1,005 adults nationwide aged 18 and over (with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), the gap between the two candidates was 2.3 percentage points within the margin of error, narrower than the 4.0 percentage point gap from a poll conducted a week earlier by MBC and three terrestrial broadcasters. For detailed information, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

Political analysts say that unification must be finalized before the 28th, the day the presidential ballots are printed, to fully realize its effects. Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University said, "Although unification can be done before early voting (March 4-5), that would result in many wasted votes. This Sunday (the 27th) should be considered the actual unification deadline."

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