Yoon Seok-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo Promise 'National Unity Government'... Merger After Election (Comprehensive)

Practical Measures and Quarantine to Focus on 'Minsheng' Issues
Presidential Transition Committee Also Plans to Be Formed Together

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, are posing after concluding a unification press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the morning of the 3rd. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporters Bomryeong Geum and Juni Park] On the day before the early voting day for the 20th presidential election, Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, who agreed on unification, promised a "National Unity Government." Along with this, both parties agreed to proceed with the merger process immediately after the election.

On the morning of the 3rd, Yoon and Ahn held a press conference at the National Assembly, stating, "By complementing each other's shortcomings, we will surely achieve a regime change and create a successful administration through a mutually complementary, competent, and prepared executive branch," and added, "The government that the two of us want to create together in response to the public’s will for regime change is a future-oriented and reformative National Unity Government."

For the National Unity Government, both sides aim to form a joint government and plan to discuss personnel systems together. This includes dividing ministries. In particular, emphasis is expected to be placed on "practicality," "quarantine," and other "livelihood" issues. The two candidates said on the day, "We will operate state affairs solely based on national interests and become a market-friendly government, opening an era of politics based on science and practicality rather than ideology and factions," and emphasized, "Above all, we will first unite efforts to overcome the crisis by correcting flawed quarantine policies and revitalizing the stagnant domestic economy." To this end, they pledged to prioritize support for vulnerable groups suffering, including self-employed individuals and small business owners.

They also plan to focus on "reform" and the "future." They said, "Rather than regressive state management such as clearing out deep-rooted evils, it is more important to create and implement state tasks that prepare for the future," and added, "Even if it burdens the administration, we will responsibly promote necessary reform tasks for the future and sustainability of the people and the nation."

In the event of taking office, they also agreed to establish a presidential transition committee ahead of the National Unity Government. Experts from each party will gather to discuss and merge policies from both sides. Ahn explained to reporters, "The transition committee will review whether the pledges are executable by conducting actual financial estimates and checking feasibility," and said, "The People’s Party and the People Power Party will gather together and discuss in the transition committee, creating synergy that will produce much better proposals."

After the election, they will proceed with the merger process. Since different groups are coming together, the People Power Party expects that through the merger with the People’s Party, their existing values and philosophies can be expanded. However, issues such as Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, and Ahn’s co-leadership remain to be further discussed during the merger process. Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party’s election campaign headquarters, said, "There are personnel, assets, and debts on the People’s Party side, so these issues need to be resolved and negotiated, and thus must be included in the discussions," adding, "The details will be quickly discussed after the election."

The People Power Party positively evaluated Ahn’s decision. On the same day, Lee said on BBS Radio, "This time, I hoped the merger would definitely be achieved, and since that was reflected, I consider it a successful conclusion," and added, "I thought Ahn would agree to the cause of regime change and would make a judgment at some point." Kwon Young-se, head of the campaign headquarters, said, "I thank candidate Ahn for his generous decision to step down unconditionally," and added, "The unification of candidates has brought the national desire for regime change much closer." Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader, also stated, "Together with candidate Ahn, the People Power Party will write a new history of national unity that transcends values, generations, regions, and classes."

Experts expressed different views on this unification achieved through a "dramatic agreement." Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, "It will act as a ‘plus’ for candidate Yoon," explaining, "Ahn’s support base, which could be as much as 10%, is likely to be moderate voters, and even if only half of that, 5%, goes to candidate Yoon, it is an opportunity to widen the gap with candidate Lee."

On the other hand, Lee Kwang-jae, secretary-general of the Manifesto Practice Headquarters, pointed out, "The election has already started with overseas voting and ballots printed," and said, "If they valued voters’ votes, it would have been better to do this before voting." He also expressed regret, saying, "Since it was achieved through a dramatic agreement, it took the form of an electoral alliance rather than a policy coalition."

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