'An Cheolsu Past Mentor' Yoon Yeo-jun: "An, 'Again Cheolsu' Trauma... Difficult to Step Down"

Yoon En Reveals Unification Negotiation Process, "Seems Unwilling to Negotiate"

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, is appealing for support during a campaign rally held in front of the traditional market in Gochang-gun, Jeonbuk, on the morning of the 28th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Regarding the fact that the opposition party unification was virtually collapsed, Yoon Yeo-jun, former Minister of Environment and mentor at the time of Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, stated, "I think there is a kind of trauma that the name 'Cheol-soo' will be firmly established again."

On the 28th, former Minister Yoon appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "(Recently) I haven’t had a chance to meet and talk, so it’s cautious to judge, but I think he (Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the People’s Party) must be in a difficult position."

He continued, "(For candidate Ahn) stepping down is not an easy thing," adding, "He needs to find a way not to hear the phrase 'again Cheol-soo,' but is that easy? I think that worry is big."

Former Minister of Environment Yoon Yeo-jun [Photo by Yonhap News]

Regarding Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, publicly revealing the unification negotiation process, former Minister Yoon said, "It was a bit unexpected," and criticized, "He is not even one of the negotiators, but the candidate himself coming out and disclosing the negotiation process in detail is almost like saying he won’t negotiate anymore."

He added, "Who discloses the negotiation process in detail? It can only be read as having no intention to negotiate."

On the reason for the collapse of the opposition party unification, former Minister Yoon said, "It’s because of conflicting interests," and explained, "It’s because they clash over the idea of regime change centered around themselves."

He continued, "From now on, they are defending themselves to avoid taking responsibility for the unification failure," and said, "Watching candidate Yoon Seok-youl himself disclose the process directly, I guessed it might be because he thought, 'I need to defend myself now so that responsibility won’t fall on me if it fails later.'"

However, former Minister Yoon still saw a spark of hope in the unification negotiations. He said, "There is a saying among politicians: politics is a living thing. Humans cannot foresee even an inch ahead, so how could anyone dare to guarantee anything?" and added, "Isn’t it possible to see that the unification negotiations are still alive, even if by a thread?"

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