Ahn Cheol-soo Declines Difficult District, Faces Lee Jae-myung in Gyeyang?

Initial Speculation on Lee Jun-seok's Candidacy for Bundang-gap By-election
Lee Jun-seok Publicly Opposes Strategic Nomination

Ahn Cheol-soo, Chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, is giving an opening speech at the aerospace industry field meeting held on the 1st at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in Sacheon, Gyeongnam.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] As the proposal to draft Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, to a challenging electoral district emerges within the People Power Party, the possibility of his candidacy in the Incheon Gyeyang by-election is gaining traction. Accordingly, there is speculation that he will face off against Lee Jae-myung, senior adviser of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Kim Ki-hyun, former floor leader of the People Power Party and co-chairman of the party’s election countermeasures committee for the June 1 local elections, said on a radio program on the 3rd, "I hope someone like Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo will play a role as a great leader," adding, "I think it would be wonderful if he runs in a challenging district to expand our party’s support base and broaden the moderate vote and wins."

Ahn’s camp had hoped to run in Bundang-gap, Gyeonggi Province, which became vacant due to former lawmaker Kim Eun-hye’s candidacy for governor of Gyeonggi Province in the by-election held alongside the local elections. However, public opinion seems to be gaining momentum that he should run in Incheon Gyeyang, considered a relatively challenging district and the former constituency of Song Young-gil, ex-leader of the Democratic Party. Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, has also publicly opposed Ahn’s strategic nomination in Bundang. On a radio show the previous day, Lee said, "As you know well, those closest to me are all going through primaries. If we determine through preliminary surveys that Chairman Ahn’s competitiveness is such that he can only win here, it might be possible, but we have not conducted such surveys yet." He added, "I will review the list of supporters by tomorrow. If Chairman Ahn is not on that list, out of respect for those who have already entered, the process of interviewing them will take quite some time."

Since the Presidential Transition Committee’s announcement of national policy tasks was scheduled for that day, it was reported that candidate registration being conducted by the People Power Party would be difficult. A People Power Party official said in a phone call that day, "If Chairman Ahn does not register as a candidate for the parliamentary by-election, which closes today, there is a possibility that after discussions over the weekend, he may be drafted to a challenging district."

The possibility of senior adviser Lee’s candidacy in the district is also very high. The Democratic Party believes that to put Lee at the forefront of the local elections, a guaranteed victory is necessary, and Incheon Gyeyang is seen as the most suitable district. Lee Won-wook, Democratic Party lawmaker and head of the local election strategic nomination management committee, said on a radio program that day, "We are considering drafting candidates when it is thought to be helpful for nationwide elections," adding, "What is clear is that there is no star in the Democratic Party currently like Lee Jae-myung." He left a remark, "Once the election starts, there will be a flood of requests nationwide for this senior adviser to come and support the campaign, so this also needs to be taken into account."