Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Yoon, Lee court Ahn to form coalition government
People's Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo speaks during a debate hosted by Kwanhun Club at Press Center in Jung District, Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
Amid a close presidential race, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the center-right People's Party, has become the most-sought-after politician as two leading contenders are wooing him to team up to field a unified candidacy for a coalition government after winning the election.
But Ahn is turning a deaf ear to their calls, reiterating his position that he is in the race until the end.
During a debate hosted by Kwanhun Club, an organization of journalists, Tuesday, Ahn dismissed any possibility of cooperating with another party to field a single candidate.
“I am running in the presidential election in order to be the protagonist of leadership change,” he said. “My goal is an election victory, not finishing to the end.”
People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol clears his throat while announcing his science and technology policies during a forum in Gangnam District, Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps
The comment came after main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said in an interview with Hankook Ilbo that he would not “rule out the possibility (of a single candidacy with Ahn).”
During the interview, Yoon mentioned the coalition government between former President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil, then a leader of a minor conservative party. In the 1997 presidential election, the two formed a coalition, with Kim Dae-jung becoming the single candidate and Kim Jong-pil and his party members taking prime minister and economic minister posts.
Yoon's comments were interpreted as an indirect proposal to Ahn, but the latter apparently rebuffed him, saying he had never considered anything of the sort.
“No matter what party takes office, the Cabinet and the public will be divided,” Ahn said. “I believe I am the right person to form a Cabinet which can unify the public.”
Ahn went on to say that he has not received any concrete offers so far.
“A leadership change is a process of building a better country,” Ahn said. “What if we unconditionally change the leadership and end up seeing another amateur administration that is worse than the incumbent one?”
Despite Ahn's staunch refusals, the PPP has placed pressure on him to cooperate to field a unified candidate for the 2022 presidential election.
But there is an obstacle inside the PPP. Its chairman, Lee Jun-seok, is against the Yoon-Ahn coalition.
Lee said on a radio interview on Tuesday that “Ahn should make a certain political decision before this weekend,” adding that picking a single candidate through a public survey “would not be appropriate given Ahn's current situation.” The official registration for presidential candidates begins Sunday.
But other PPP members are continuing to press Ahn to join the Yoon camp.
The PPP appears to be making such a move because recent surveys show that support for Ahn has been stagnant. According to a survey conducted by Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), released on Monday, Ahn's support rate stood at 8.3 percent, trailing behind Yoon with 44.6 percent and ruling Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung with 38.4 percent.
The polls show Ahn's rate fell into the single-digits range. In previous KSOI surveys, Ahn's support rate reached 15.1 percent on Jan. 9, but dropped to 9.6 percent on Jan. 16. The figure slightly recovered to 11.6 percent on Jan. 23, but fell to 10.6 percent on Jan. 31 and 8.3 percent on Monday.
Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung enters the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
The DPK's Lee also appears to be reaching out to Ahn, in order to make a breakthrough in his stagnant support rate.
Recently, Lee has been advocating the idea of forming a coalition government and a mixed Cabinet. On Monday, Lee said at a forum, “We need a unified government which seeks bipartisanship in pursuing policies and hiring human resources” and “the Cabinet should be a public's Cabinet, which does not distinguish the liberal and the conservative.”
Lee met Kim Chong-in, Yoon's former campaign chief, on Sunday and had lunch with former People's Party lawmaker Lee Sang-don on Monday, where the candidate reiterated his idea of a coalition government. Candidate Lee is expected to meet former Minister of Environment Yoon Yeo-joon, who is known as Ahn's political mentor.
Despite Lee's moves, Ahn ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition government with the DPK.
“I don't know about the details of Lee's coalition government idea,” Ahn said. “It seems that they are trying to form a Cabinet among the politicians of the two major parties. However, my idea for a unified Cabinet is recruiting experts from outside of the political circle.”
Monday's KSOI survey was requested by broadcaster TBS and questioned 1,011 adults from Feb. 4 to 5. The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points and further details are available at the website of KSOI or National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.