The Fight Between 'An Yun Alliance' Buried by Na Kyung-won and Kim Ki-hyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] It is truly deserving of the phrase 'a moment of the stars.' Former lawmaker Na Kyung-won has submitted her resignation as vice-chair of the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Committee and expressed her intention to run, drawing all the attention of the ruling party's leadership election scheduled for early March. Although the alliance between leadership candidates An Yoon (Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoon Sang-hyun) and the 'Yun-sim (尹心)' candidate, lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun, are fiercely competing, they are relatively less noticed.

On the 13th, Kim posted on his social media (SNS), "Candidate Ahn mentioned 'tochak waegu' (native pro-Japanese collaborators). He connected the very common-sense argument that 'party members should elect the party leader' to the 'tochak waegu' theory," expressing concern that "'Tochak waegu' is a hateful term frequently used by the Democratic Party when attacking our party members with a pro-Japanese frame."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim's remarks were in response to Ahn's SNS comments.

The day before, Ahn said on SNS, "Regarding the previous 7:3 leadership election rule, it is like 'choosing the coach of the Korean national soccer team by reflecting 30% of the opinions of Japanese citizens.' Does Kim see the people participating in the opinion poll as foreigners?" raising an issue.

He added, "Kim's argument is no different from the Democratic Party's 'tochak waegu' worldview," and said, "It is shocking to see a leadership candidate imitate the Democratic Party's national division and reactionary diplomacy."

Yoon, who is forming a 'metropolitan area alliance' with Ahn, also joined in through SNS. Yoon said, "The current opinion polls are based not on our party members but on the People Power Party supporters, but will the non-member supporters Kim called 'Japanese citizens' support us in the future?" and added, "He really does not understand the sentiment of the metropolitan area at all."

The clash between the two sides was expected. Kim has taken a critical stance on the previous leadership election rule of '70% party members, 30% public opinion,' citing concerns such as 'reverse selection,' while Ahn and Yoon have insisted that the previous election rule should not be changed. They also opposed each other regarding 'running in the metropolitan area.'

However, despite being a conflict among leadership candidates, the news of former lawmaker Na's resignation submission has overshadowed the issue, preventing it from receiving proper attention. Na's resignation submission is interpreted as a de facto declaration of candidacy. On the same day, she hinted at running through her SNS, saying, "Even if the wind shakes the trees, the forest stays in place, and even if rocks block the river, the water flows to the sea."