Ahn's camp pushes for trilateral meeting with Park, Moon

Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo's election camp said Wednesday that it will contact rival contenders for Korea's top elected office to persuade them to accept Ahn's proposal for a trilateral meeting.

A week has passed since Ahn, a 50-year-old computer software mogul-turned-professor, threw his hat into the ring and formally asked Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) to meet with him and promise in front of the people to compete in good faith.

Neither the conservative ruling camp nor the liberal opposition has shown much enthusiasm for the proposal, with both sides appearing to downplay its significance amid fierce competition to gain the upper hand before the Dec. 19 polls.

Speaking on a local radio program, Ahn's spokesman, Yoo Min-young, said the liberal independent's campaign team plans to push for the meeting.

"We plan to contact the chiefs of staff and work out the details as early as today," he said. "We made the proposal to the two candidates and understood that both are positive about it."

The move comes as Ahn has expressed his wish to hold the trilateral meeting before the start of the three-day Chuseok holidays, which this year starts on Saturday. Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving Day, is important to politicians during an election year because it allows family and friends to exchange views on candidates.

Asked for her opinion, Park told reporters last week she is "completely open to meeting (Ahn) if such an opportunity arises." However, she also indicated the proposal is nothing new.

"(A policy-focused campaign) is something that I've also stressed many times, and it's not something that can be done with words, but (since) everyone knows that's the correct way, it's an issue that needs to be put into action," she said at the time.

Park, 60, is a five-term lawmaker and the eldest daughter of late President Park Chung-hee.

An official of Park's election campaign team said they need to check what Ahn is proposing, hinting that the Saenuri candidate may not jump on the proposal.

An official of Moon's campaign team also expressed reservations about the proposal.

"I have no issues with a meeting in itself, whether it is between two or three (candidates)," the official said, asking not to be identified. "But it isn't clear what Ahn wants to touch on at the meeting."

Moon, a 59-year-old former human rights lawyer-turned-politician, told reporters last week he would decide after hearing the details of the proposal.

"Having a meeting is a good thing, but I can't help but feel that it's a bit abrupt to ask for one right after declaring one's candidacy," he said at the time.

Meanwhile, Lee Hye-hoon, a ranking Saenuri official, told a radio program earlier in the day that Ahn should first promise to complete the race without unifying his candidacy with Moon.

Speculation is rife the two liberals will unify their candidacies before the election because they would split the opposition vote if they don't, and hand over victory to Park, who has solid support from conservatives and the older generation. (Yonhap)