Ahn Cheol-soo praised for volunteering as doctor to fight COVID-19 spread
The minor opposition People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, drenched in sweat, returns to an emergency control center building after treating patients with symptoms of COVID-19, Monday, at the Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Daegu, the city hit hardest by the novel coronavirus. The doctor-turned-politician has been volunteering in the southeastern city since Sunday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
Ahn Cheol-soo, head of the minor opposition People's Party, has been gaining positive public attention ― not because of his activity or vision as a politician but because of his volunteer work as a doctor during the current spread of the corona virus.
Ahn, who was a doctor before becoming an entrepreneur and then a politician, has been volunteering to help patients showing symptoms of COVID-19 in the southeastern city of Daegu, as it has reported the largest number of virus cases in Korea and is short of medical staff.
According to officials from the party, Ahn and his wife Kim Mi-kyung, a professor at the Seoul National University's College of Medicine, went to volunteer in Daegu without the accompaniment of any aides. Ahn, whose doctor's license is still valid, has been treating patients at the Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital since Sunday.
Photos of Ahn drenched in sweat after wearing anti-contamination clothing are receiving positive responses from both other politicians and the public.
“Even though we are with different parties, I wish to express my respect for Ahn,” Lee Jun-seok, a member of the main opposition United Future Korea's (UFK) Supreme Council, said during a party meeting, Monday.
Kim Jung-hwa, a co-head of the minor opposition Minsaeng Party, also said, “Ahn's volunteer work in Daegu should be highly appraised, separately from political interests.”
Outside of the political sphere, many online commenters have been praising his “heroic” efforts.
“Giving firsthand help to those in need, Ahn is much better than other politicians who just sit in Seoul and talk about ineffective countermeasures (against the epidemic),” a blogger wrote.
But many of the comments also say Ahn shines better as a doctor than a politician.
“'Doctor Ahn Cheol-soo' is much better than 'politician Ahn Cheol-soo.' I hope he stops doing politics,” another wrote.
Such reactions, although positive, may be uncomfortable for Ahn who resumed his political career earlier this year by launching the People's Party in late February and declaring himself a “pragmatic centrist.”
His new People's Party ― which has the same name as the party he co-founded in 2016 before it merged with the Bareun Party in 2018 to form the Bareunmirae Party ― plans to run in the April 15 general election to acquire proportional representation seats, only without candidates for constituencies. The party, however, needs to achieve a 3 percent or higher approval rating to gain proportional representation seats, which is unlikely according to recent surveys.
Ahn received his medical degree at Seoul National University, and worked as a professor at Dankook University's medical school from 1989 to 1991. He also served as a naval surgeon during his mandatory military service until 1994.
As the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters predicts the first week of March will be crucial for the country to stop the further spread of the virus, Ahn is expected to continue his volunteer work in Daegu for the time being.