Ahn Cheol-soo: "If the Ruling Party Forms a 'Third Zone' New Party, the Impact Will Be Significant"

"May Decrease by More Than 17 Seats in the Seoul Metropolitan Area"
"No Changes to Electoral Districts in the Next General Election"

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Geum Tae-seop and former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in, who are at the center of the 'third zone' new party formation, have prompted People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo to predict, "If a new party emerges, the ruling party will be hit harder."

On the 21st, Ahn said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "Objectively speaking, if the number of voters disappointed with the two major parties continues to increase, I believe there is a possibility," expressing this view.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "If such a thing happens, the party that will suffer the greatest damage is not the Democratic Party but the People Power Party," adding, "In the last presidential election, if you look at it this way, the 2030 generation supported and the centrist and non-affiliated voters supported, so we barely won by 0.73%. These groups are very disappointed, and now the approval rating is in the 10% range, and if a third party is formed, these people will all go to that side," he said.

He also expressed concern that in next year's general election in the Seoul metropolitan area, he might receive a lower score than the current 17 seats. He said, "I am currently a lawmaker in Gyeonggi Province, and the atmosphere in Gyeonggi Province is very hostile. If you come and meet people like this, you can feel it," "Currently, out of 121 seats in the metropolitan area, we hold 17 seats, but that number could decrease further," he said.

Ahn originally represented Nowon-gu but changed his constituency to Bundang-gap in this by-election and was elected. There is speculation that he might return to Nowon-gu in next year's general election to face former party leader Lee Jun-seok. However, he said, "I have no intention of changing my constituency at all," adding, "Changing constituencies itself is a very important issue, and especially in my case, since I came in through a by-election two years ago, I am doing my best here to keep the promises I made to the residents and am currently engaged in legislative activities," he said.

There is also analysis that Kim Eun-hye, the chief spokesperson who gave up her National Assembly seat to run for governor of Gyeonggi Province, could return to her original constituency, Bundang-gap, in the general election. Ahn said, "I don't think she will come here," and viewed that she would not return out of political ethics.

He emphasized that in the upcoming Korea-US summit next week, they must secure agreements on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and nuclear-powered submarines. Ahn said, "One of the ways to counter the advancement of North Korea's nuclear capabilities is to be allowed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, like Japan currently does," adding, "Since we cannot reprocess spent nuclear fuel, it is being stored and is almost at capacity, and it is a technology that can create the capability to respond to North Korea's nuclear threat in emergencies."

He continued, "Last month, Australia acquired nuclear-powered submarine capabilities, and looking at North Korea's SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), ultimately, having nuclear-powered submarines is the only way we can respond. So at least these two things must be obtained," he said.

Ahn had previously emphasized the necessity of nuclear sharing through his social media. When asked by the host, "Do you support the idea of nuclear armament itself?" Ahn replied, "No," but added, "If we can jointly strategize and make operational decisions together from the start regarding the nuclear weapons on US submarines or fighter jets, and thus use them more effectively and regularly, even without bringing nuclear weapons into the Korean Peninsula, it would have a better effect."

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