Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Single candidacy talks ignite online proxy war
By Jun Ji-hye
Supporters of Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo are trading barbs online amid the ongoing talks to field a unified candidate from the liberal camp.
The emotional battle had shown signs of subsiding Sunday after Moon, the Democratic United Party’s (DUP) presidential candidate and independent Ahn met to resume stalled talks.
But it soon resumed because the two sides were reluctant to make concessions on the method of selecting a single candidate.
Online clashes on portal sites and social network services (SNS) reached a peak Tuesday.
An Internet user, @baekk*****, tweeted, “Ahn is demanding that the DUP be completely subservient to his side, although he is not in a position to call for the resignation of the DUP leadership.”
Another tweeter with the ID @jOs*** echoed a similar view, urging Ahn to clarify his position on political reform first.
“Considering that the DUP delegates chose its leader, Ahn’s call for him to step down as a precondition to resume the talks was inappropriate.”
Earlier, Ahn’s camp demanded that DUP leader Lee Hae-chan step down, calling him a stumbling block to reform. Lee and all the DUP Supreme Council members followed the call Sunday, clearing the way for Ahn to restart the talks with Moon.
Meanwhile, Ahn’s supporters fired back at the Moon camp, arguing that his party has not done anything good for Korean politics.
An Internet user @hyso*** blamed the DUP leadership for their slow response to Ahn’s call to resign.
“It took a month for Rep. Lee Hae-chan to resign to follow the call since Ahn asked the DUP to overhaul the party. Although Lee consented reluctantly, they are feigning generosity and just criticizing Ahn. I am sick and tired of the way they did it.”
A similar debate is being held on Internet portal Daum`s popular online forum Agora.
Those who stand with Moon say “I support Moon because he has been more determined than Ahn to solve the problem,” while others are siding with Ahn.
“If Moon is elected and goes to Cheong Wa Dae, the DUP would likely conduct political retaliation against the current ruling Saenuri Party, and this will pave the way for its return to power in the next presidential election.”
Meanwhile, the ruling Saenuri Party has also criticized Moon.
“Moon and the DUP appear to be playing politics. Moon proposed Sunday that he leave the decision on the method of selecting a single candidate in the hands of Ahn. But he now says that he disagreed with Ahn on the way to select a candidate,” said Kwon Young-se, an aide to Park Geun-hye, the party’s presidential candidate, in a briefing at its headquarters in Seoul.
In a meeting of the Moon and Ahn sides Monday, the latter suggested giving a 50 percent weight to an opinion poll and 50 percent to a conventional primary as a means to elect the candidate. Moon reportedly opposed this.
The two are scheduled to face off in a TV debate, Wednesday, to bolster their positions.