Ahn Cheol-soo: "Lee Jun-seok's Rechallenge for Party Leadership? It's His Freedom... Will Decide on Party Leadership Challenge When the Time Comes"

"I am in a hurry to win, not thinking about party leadership"
'Let's End Cheolsu's Politics' Slogan: "Why Criticize Our Own Candidate?"
"Kim Eun-hye-Kang Yong-seok Unification Difficult... Entirely Up to Candidate's Decision"

On the morning of the 28th of last month, Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party candidate for the Gyeonggi Seongnam by-election, is speaking at the first party-government meeting between the People Power Party and the Presidential Transition Committee held at the National Assembly. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party candidate for the Seongnam Bundang-gap by-election in Gyeonggi Province, said on the 26th that regarding Lee Jun-seok's possibility of running again for party leadership, "That is his own judgment and his own freedom."

On the same day, on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Ahn responded to the host's question, "Lee expressed his intention to run again for party leadership if the party's reform is not sufficiently completed. What do you think about that?" with this statement.

Ahn added, "If (Lee) himself says he will run, who would stop him?"

Earlier, on April 1st, Lee appeared on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' and said, "If I had finished what I needed to do as party leader, I would not run (in the party convention)." He added, "During my term, I held two elections and couldn't accomplish many of the reform politics I wanted to do. If I can speedily achieve those things within a year, I might move on to something else, but if I feel there is still work left, I might run again."

Regarding his own possibility of running in the party convention, Ahn said, "I am more urgent about winning the election, so I am not thinking about party leadership," adding, "That is a matter to decide when the time comes." He continued, "You can lose an election with just a little carelessness," and emphasized, "You really have to focus 100%, 120% on everything for the election."

When asked if his chemistry with Lee is good or if their characters do not match well, Ahn said, "I don't even know if our characters match or not," adding, "After all, we are from different generations. We haven't had deep political conversations, so I don't really know about his political philosophy or such matters."

Regarding the rival Kim Byung-kwan, the Democratic Party candidate for Bundang-gap, who set the election slogan as "Let's end Cheol-soo politics," Ahn said, "Why criticize your own party's candidate, Lee Jae-myung, like that?" and added, "You shouldn't keep self-disparaging like that."

On the Gyeonggi Province governor election outlook, he said, "I also find it difficult to predict," and added, "Ultimately, I think the candidate who properly reflects public sentiment will be chosen by the residents, but if the local sentiment empowers the ruling party to solve livelihood issues, then the ruling party candidate might have a slight advantage."

Regarding the prospects of unification between Kim Eun-hye, the People Power Party candidate for Gyeonggi governor, and Kang Yong-seok, an independent candidate, Ahn said, "I think it will probably be difficult," adding, "It is entirely up to the candidates to judge and decide whether it would help the overall situation."

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