Kim Young-woo "Na's Non-Candidacy, A Double-Edged Sword for Ahn"

"If You're a Party Leader, You Should Have Presidential Election Dreams"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Kim Young-woo, former member of the People Power Party and current chief campaign committee member for Ahn Cheol-soo's primary campaign, raised his voice saying, "A politician who aims to become party leader must have presidential ambitions." This was a counter-response to suspicions that Ahn Cheol-soo, as a next presidential candidate, would focus on 'self-politics' rather than supporting the government. Regarding the impact of former lawmaker Na Kyung-won's decision not to run, he analyzed it as a "double-edged sword."

On the 26th, Kim, in response to related questions from the host on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' said, "Those who are thinking about the next presidential election must 100% go all-in on next year's general election. If they lose the general election, the party leader is held responsible."

Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won is leaving the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, after holding a press conference on the 25th announcing she will not run for party leader. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

He said, "Winning the general election is the primary goal, and since the party leader has presidential ambitions, the idea that they would only dream of their own faction or just the next term is, in my opinion, incorrect," adding, "I believe a politician who becomes party leader must have presidential ambitions."

There is a view inside and outside the party that since Ahn is a presidential candidate, instead of supporting the Yoon Seok-youl government as party leader, he would focus on building his own faction. Kim dismissed this as "the opinion of those who see things very narrowly."

Regarding whether former lawmaker Na's withdrawal would help Ahn, he said, "It could either help or not help," adding, "(Na's) traditional support base was large. Conservative supporters, those who supported Na Kyung-won, might interpret this situation as 'Isn't Kim Ki-hyun more conservative?'"

He continued, "After the regime change, the way our party has behaved has been extreme. Trapped in the Yoon core faction frame, with the Kim Jang alliance and so on, in this situation, some might think, 'Na Kyung-won ultimately gave in, this is not right,' and those people might give their votes to our candidate."

Currently, multiple opinion polls conducting hypothetical one-on-one matchups show Ahn winning against his competitor Kim Ki-hyun. This supports the hypothesis that a significant portion of Na's support would be absorbed by Ahn following her withdrawal. Regarding this, Kim said, "Simply put, yes. And even before Na Kyung-won's withdrawal announcement, there was a trend called the metropolitan area alliance."

However, on whether a meeting between Ahn and Na is being pursued, he said, "Nothing concrete is being pursued," but added, "Communication with Na Kyung-won has been going well, and we even spoke on the phone a week ago."

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