By Lee Tae-hoon
Ahn Cheol-soo, who threw his hat into the presidential race Wednesday, appointed Park Sun-sook, a former lawmaker and secretary general of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), as the head of his campaign team, a spokesman said Thursday.
Yoo Min-young, spokesman to Ahn, said that Park will spearhead campaign efforts for the founder of the country’s largest anti-virus firm AhnLab.
Park said he gave much thought before deciding to withdraw her membership from the DUP to back the independent. ‘
“It wasn’t an easy decision for me to leave a party that I have worked for since I entered politics in 1995,” the former lawmaker said.
Park said she has always regarded Ahn as a truthful person since her first encounter with him.
“I have trust in him,” she said.
Park entered the political world in 1995 as deputy spokesman of the opposition National Congress for New Politics, a predecessor of the DUP, upon the recommendation of the late Kim Geun-tae, a dissident-turned-lawmaker.
The 51-year-old served as the nation’s first presidential spokeswoman in 2002 and 2003 under the Kim Dae-jung administration.
The activist-turned-lawmaker also served as vice environment minister from 2004 through 2006 under the Roo Moo-hyun administration.
She successfully led the DUP’s negotiations with the Unified Progressive Party over fielding unified candidates ahead of the April 11 National Assembly elections.