I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
President-elect meets coalition partner Ahn Cheol-soo
Ahn Cheol-soo, left, the leader of the minor People's Party, answers questions from reporters at the People Power Party headquarters, Friday, after his luncheon with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol there. Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
By Kang Hyun-kyung
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the minor center-right People's Party, had lunch on Friday, a day after Yoon won the election.
Their first one-on-one meeting after the election lasted over two hours at the People Power Party's headquarters in Seoul.
Ahn said he and Yoon exchanged ideas about state affairs.
“When we agreed to form a coalition during the campaign period, we also agreed to meet at the earliest possible day after the election in case he won and discuss agendas and policy directions,” Ahn told reporters after their luncheon.
“He was declared as the winner of the election yesterday, so I tried to reach out to him to congratulate him on his victory but he contacted me first. He proposed lunch meeting today to discuss overall state affairs, a call I accepted.”
Ahn denied media reports that he was tapped to lead the presidential transition team as chairman. He said the president-elect didn't say a word about the presidential transition team.
The minor party leader reportedly expressed his willingness on several occasions to take the helm of the transition team.
Ahn said he and the president-elect exchanged ideas on issues that are related to Korea, democracy and how it can be fully restored as well as the data industry, adding that they found themselves on the same page on quite a few issues.
When asked to name specific issues agreed on, Ahn declined to give an answer.
Rep. Chang Je-won, who serves as chief of staff for the President-elect, said that chairman and vice chairman of the transition team could be named on Sunday.