An "Once regime change is complete, just being the gatekeeper for the Yeo party is enough" (Comprehensive)

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, attending the general election victory strategy talk show
Photo by Yonhap News

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party's candidate for party leader, stated on the 26th, "I ran to complete the regime change with a victory in the general election," adding, "If the regime change is completed, I am fine with just being the gatekeeper for the People Power Party."

On the morning of the same day, Ahn wrote on Facebook, "I have no intention whatsoever of using the leadership position as a stepping stone for my personal political gain." Referring to the 2022 presidential election unification process, he emphasized, "I unified with the spirit of Baekbeom Kim Gu, who said he would be fine being a gatekeeper as long as independence is achieved. At that moment, I became a guarantor for the Yoon Seok-yeol government."

Regarding the party convention, Ahn defined it as "a battle between candidates who believe the president's will is important and those who believe public sentiment is more important." He criticized, "A leader who only follows the president's will cannot prevent division caused by the nomination turmoil," and added, "Those who fear difficult constituencies and only seek safe districts will carry out nomination massacres to take the seats of those who contributed to the regime change."

In the afternoon, Ahn held a 'General Election Strategy Talk Concert' at the National Assembly Members' Office Building to appeal for support. About 700 party members and supporters (estimated by the candidate's side) gathered at the event, where People Power Party lawmakers Seo Byung-soo and Lee Tae-gyu, along with Senior Advisor Lee Jae-oh, attended and gave congratulatory speeches to bolster Ahn's campaign. His wife, Professor Kim Mi-kyung, also attended to target party sentiment.

When asked to compare the relationship between the party leader and the president to that of a class president and a teacher, with the question, "What would you do if the teacher said 1+1 could equal 0?" Ahn replied, "I would persuade until the end, but if persuasion fails, it is right to entrust the decision-making authority to the person responsible."

After the event, Ahn told reporters about his strategy for the upcoming joint rallies in Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and the metropolitan area scheduled for this week, saying, "It will be an opportunity to express my thoughts on the various noises that appeared related to the party convention."

Regarding his competitor Chun Ha-ram's announcement to "send lawmakers holding high party positions to run in difficult constituencies," Ahn criticized, "Deciding from the start to send a specific person to a certain area or not giving a nomination is also a form of favoritism."

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