Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Ki-hyun Send Consecutive Facebook Messages
Na Kyung-won’s Quiet Lunar New Year Activities... Attentive to Candidacy Decision
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The presidential candidates of the People Power Party for the March 8 party convention praised President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the Lunar New Year holiday as "diplomacy prioritizing national interests." They dismissed opposition party criticisms of President Yoon's remark that "the UAE's enemy is Iran" as "a wasteful controversy" and "nitpicking."
Kim Ki-hyun, a leading presidential candidate, wrote on Facebook on the 24th, "Expectations among companies for the UAE's $30 billion investment are growing, and international interest in the bid for the 2030 World Expo, promoted at the Davos Forum, is also increasing," adding, "All of these are the butterfly effects brought about by President Yoon's pragmatic diplomacy."
Kim said, "President Yoon thoroughly focused on economic pragmatic diplomacy during this visit," and evaluated it as "part of the normalization process to guard against the half-hearted diplomacy of the Moon Jae-in administration, which was subordinated to ideology."
Regarding the opposition party's criticism of President Yoon's 'Iran remark,' Kim said, "The opposition party has been nitpicking the president's words and continuing criticism throughout the Lunar New Year holiday. There is concern that overseas criticism may arise, pointing out the regressive behavior of subordinating diplomacy and security to political interests," urging, "The ruling and opposition parties must put their heads together to support pragmatic diplomacy that prioritizes national interests beyond partisan interests."
Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo also stated on Facebook the previous day, "The standard for evaluating the president's diplomacy should be national interest," and added, "It is hard to deny that President Yoon's state visit to the UAE was economic diplomacy that greatly contributed to our national interests."
Ahn compared President Yoon's visit to the diplomacy after the armistice by former President Rhee Syngman, explaining, "The Yoon administration's diplomatic strategy is also focused on pragmatic diplomacy for national interests," and said, "The Moon Jae-in administration pursued an excessive nuclear phase-out policy, which set back economic cooperation with the UAE. To make up for this, President Yoon succeeded in the state visit through concentrated efforts and returned with significant economic diplomatic achievements."
He also said, "The opposition party should not exaggerate minor flaws to undermine diplomacy for national interests," adding, "Now is the time to put our heads together on how to maximize the achievements of the visit."
Former Assemblywoman Na Kyung-won, who is known to decide on her candidacy after President Yoon's return, did not deliver any special message during the Lunar New Year holiday.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
