Ahn Cheol-soo's First Day at the National Assembly: "I'm a New Member in the People Power Party... Will Talk Regardless of Party Lines"

Reserved on Next Party Leadership Bid
"Policy Success Is the Success of Yoon Government, Korea, and the People"
Identifies Breaking Away from Ideological Party and Becoming a Pragmatic Political Party as Party Innovation Tasks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] On the 7th, Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party who was elected in the by-election for the National Assembly seat of Bundang-gap, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province in the June 1 local elections, responded to a question about whether he would challenge the party leadership by saying, “Am I not a newcomer in the People Power Party? I think I need to talk with the People Power Party members, but it is not related to the party leadership.”

On the same day, when Ahn arrived at the National Assembly for the first time and met with reporters, he said, “Basically, when starting politics anew, I think the most important first step is to talk with many people and get to know each other.” He stated that he plans to expand his contacts with People Power Party members, but this is for legislative activities, not a challenge for party leadership.

He said, “I am not particularly thinking of study groups,” adding, “The world is changing so fast that if you don’t study, you fall behind. Studying is to properly reflect reality in policies and find accurate solutions.” He emphasized, “If the policy succeeds, that will be the success of the Yoon Seok-yeol government, the success of the Republic of Korea, and the success of the people.”

Regarding his hope to serve on the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee as his National Assembly standing committee, he explained, “Diplomatic issues have become matters of life and death beyond just livelihood.” He added, “I have expertise in the field of science and technology. I believe I can contribute sufficiently.” He also rebutted criticisms about his expertise by saying, “There is no one among the National Assembly members with more global experience than me. It is hard to understand the claim that I am a non-expert in the diplomatic and global fields.”

He also expressed his stance on party innovation. Ahn said, “The new government is empowered to carry out reforms needed by the people, but at the same time, the people have created a kind of control mechanism so that the government does not become arrogant or complacent. I think this wise judgment of the people is reflected in the results of the presidential and local elections.” He added, “We must do our best to meet the people’s expectations, and actually produce results that benefit the people. Isn’t that the most important thing?”

He cited breaking away from an ideologically oriented party and becoming a pragmatic political party as important tasks for party innovation. He emphasized, “Only a party that can represent socioeconomically vulnerable groups, listen to their voices, create policies and alternatives to solve their problems, and warmly embrace them can survive.”

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