Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Moon, Ahn seek turnaround
Moon Jae-in, presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party, waves to supporters during a campaign stop at the Dongmun Traditional Market on Jeju Island, Friday. Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Liberals expect synergy effect via alliance
By Jung Min-ho
Galvanized by Ahn Cheol-soos pledge Thursday of his fullfledged support, Democratic United Party (DUP) presidential candidate Moon Jae-in was seeking fresh momentum Friday in the ruling Saenuri Partys longtime stronghold of Busan.
Moon planned to canvass the city for votes after finishing his campaign schedule on Jeju Island by 3 p.m. and Ahn announced his plan to be in downtown Busan and Busan Station Square from 5 p.m. It is nonetheless uncertain if the two will meet.
Now all the doubts and concerns have been banished and the peoples choice has become simple between choosing the unity of failed privileged and the unity of the people who will prosper, Moon camp spokesman Park Kwang-on said.
We remember that our party received more than a 40 percent support from South Gyeongsang Province in the April parliamentary elections. We encourage the voters to make a wise choice that will determine the nations future.
The two liberals simultaneous appearances in the city will likely create synergy in shoring up Moons support base there, as many experts say the former independent candidates support will eventually boost the DUP candidates ratings by about 3 percentage.
Ahn was born in Busan while Moons hometown is nearby Goeju; Busan has also been Moons political home turf.
The latest Realmeter poll released Wednesday shows the ruling Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye with 49.5 percent, retaining her lead over Moon on 45.3 percent, thanks to her edge in Seoul and the metropolitan area.
Though the gap has narrowed from 5 percent to 4.2 percent compared with the previous poll, it remains to be seen whether the boost from the candidate-turned-kingmakers campaign will be enough to shift the balance in Moons favor with the election only 11 days away.
Unlike Moons surrogates, who are buoyed by Ahns proactive support, Cho Yong-kyung, exsenior adviser to Ahn, and some of the former independent contenders backers withdrew their support from Ahns political choice.
We joined the Ahn camp with a belief that he would put an end to the era of political division and hatred and achieve unification of the people.
We believed his word but he forsook us, Cho said Friday.
We are deeply concerned about his political career as he has pledged his full support for Moon, who shares little in political viewpoints with Ahn.
With that said, we are very sorry to say we wont be with him Ahns support is likely to at least bring the DUP candidate to swing voters attention, igniting hope in his flagging campaign at a critical time.
A sense crisis had been flaring up in the liberal camp since Ahn had remained silent over the much-touted bid for him to join Moon for the campaigning in the lead up to the presidential election slated for Dec. 19.
Moon was put in furthe dilemma as various opinion surveys found that he had been far lagging behind the ruling party candidate Park by more than 8 percent.
Against this backdrop, Ahn has been prompted to make quick decision to support the embattled Moon.