Ahn Cheol-soo, a candidate of the People’s Party, declared withdrawal from the ‘unification of the opposition’, which was considered the biggest variable in the 20th presidential election, but the spark for a ‘dramatic settlement’ at the last minute is still alive. It is from the perspective that the ‘one team formation’ direction of ‘dramatic reconciliation’ that Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol for People’s Power has shown in the past can be reproduced.
It is reported that Ahn’s press conference the day before (20th) was held in a blitz by his own decision.
Not only the People’s Power, but even within the People’s Party did not know regarding Ahn’s holding a press conference until just before the announcement. An official from Candidate Ahn’s side said, “Up until this morning, I only knew the approximate situation that the two candidates were communicating, and most of the people in the camp would not have known that they would make the decision to withdraw from the unification discussion.”
In the sense that the press conference was held urgently like this, there is also an analysis that the remarks of the People’s Power Representative Lee Jun-seok, who have kept in check on Ahn by insisting on self-reliance, may have had an impact. In fact, in a broadcast on the morning of the same day, hours before Ahn had a press conference, CEO Lee said regarding candidate Ahn, “When you were on the Democratic Party’s side in the past, it was Ahn Cheol-soo’s way of giving up without any context.” But, do you have any sympathy for remuneration?” he pointed out. He continued, saying, “It is true that candidate Ahn has not yet applied for a broadcast speech, and that he lacks the energy to hold an election at this point.” For Candidate Ahn, this is a remark that can be recognized as a ‘provocation’.
For this reason, the observation that Candidate Ahn pushed through the press conference even though there was a possibility of communication with Candidate Yoon, weighs on the observations. It was confirmed that Yoon made a short phone call to Ahn around 10 am on the same day before Ahn’s press conference. During the phone call, it is said that Candidate Ahn responded to Yoon’s proposal for a meeting related to the unification discussion, saying, “It would be good to meet following the working-level negotiations are over.”
This means that Ahn and Yoon discussed the unification negotiation method, and abruptly changed his position following two hours and announced the emergency press conference schedule.
Regarding this, an official from People’s Power said, “Many of his closest aides have left due to Candidate Ahn’s past political moves and issues of unification.
There is also the view that the emergency press conference is ‘making a picture for sudden resignation’.
This series of circumstances reinforces the observation that candidate Yoon will once once more send a ‘unification gesture’ to candidate Ahn.
Previously, candidate Yoon achieved a dramatic reconciliation with Lee, and on the 17th, former People’s Power lawmaker Yoo Seung-min joined the party. With this, he created a ‘one team’ in regarding three months with Hong Jun-pyo, a member of the party’s primary opponent, and Won Hee-ryong, the former head of the policy department of the former Jeju governor, as a permanent adviser to the predecessor’s headquarters. Due to this precedent, the analysis that the ‘door of unification’ with Candidate Ahn was not completely closed is also gaining strength.
However, with only one week left until the ’28th, the 20th presidential election ballot printing date’, which was originally set as a ‘deadline’, there are views that even if the spark of unification is revived, the influence has already rapidly weakened.
From the perspective of Candidate Yoon, the idea is that there is no room for further negotiations with Candidate Ahn because the unification does not actually help increase the approval rating.
An official from the opposition party said, “Suddenly proposing unification once more is not appropriate under various circumstances,” he said.
The People’s Party is repeatedly emphasizing Ahn’s will to complete the race as a reader.
An official from Ahn’s side said, “If Candidate Yoon accepts Ahn’s proposal unconditionally, the discussion might continue, but in the current situation, I think it is close to impossible.” I will go,” he said.