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| Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo | Rep. Moon Jae-in |
By Jun Ji-hye
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo appears to be distancing himself from Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in the course of forming a new opposition coalition party.
The two, who ran together in the 2012 presidential poll against then ruling party candidate President Park Geun-hye, until Ahn dropped out of the race, have drifted apart because the process of agreeing on a single opposition candidate was not as "harmonious" as they promised.
Ahn has made remarks indicating that he still harbors a grudge against Moon.
On Monday, he said that one of the main reasons for his decision to agree to form the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) with the DP was the overwhelming number of lawmakers that voted for a motion to unseal the original transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.
The remarks were construed as blaming Rep. Moon, as his strong demand for disclosing the minutes became the key reason for the National Assembly's approval.
The minutes were a conversation between the late President Roh Moo-hyun and the late North Korea leader Kim Jong-il, and Moon, who served as chief of staff under Roh, at the time believed that disclosure of the minutes was the only way of resolving the controversy surrounding Roh's alleged disavowal of the nation's West Sea border.
At that time, Ahn was among a handful of lawmakers opposing the disclosure.
"I voted against the motion as I thought unearthing the National Intelligence Service's (NIS) alleged intervention in the 2012 presidential election was a more significant issue."
"I did not want the transcript issue to bury the election-meddling scandal. I was sure that the disclosure would likely damage the national interest. But I was unable to block the passage."
Ahn said he realized at that point the need to secure as many people as possible with similar views.
The tension between the two was also noticeable when they met on Saturday for the first time since the two opposition camps announced their plan to merge early this month.
The occasion was the NPAD's inauguration event for its Busan branch, Rep. Moon's constituency.
Ahn and Moon shook hands and sat next to each other. However, the two rarely talked during the event, which ran for about an hour.
The awkward meeting also fanned speculation that Ahn's aides are on a collision course with Roh's supporters, who are worried about their possible exclusion from the two camps' integration.
In stark contrast, Ahn has shown off his close ties with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, to whom he conceded during the Seoul mayoral by-election in 2011
When the independent lawmaker attended a charity bazaar the Seoul Metropolitan Government hosted at Gwanghwamun, Ahn and Park walked and chatted together for about 40 minutes. The two even gave each other books as gifts and posed for photographers flashing big smiles.
"We are in the same boat. I will do my best for this city government. I expect Ahn to create a better society in the central government. I will actively help," said Park.
Ahn and Rep. Kim Han-gil, the DP chairman, agreed to form the opposition coalition to beat the governing camp in the June 4 local elections, and to change the government in the next presidential election in 2017.
They will officially launch the new party today.
