Cheon Ha-ram "Ahn's Spirit Awakened Too Late... Politics of Testing the Waters"

"Not even a bit reformist despite being non-mainstream"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Cheon Ha-ram, a candidate for the People Power Party (PPP) leadership classified as part of the 'Lee Jun-seok faction,' criticized candidate Ahn Cheol-soo as engaging in "opportunistic politics." He said Ahn only raised his voice after clashing with the Blue House while trying to ride the wave of the mainstream 'Pro-Yoon (친윤).'

On the 6th, on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Cheon said, "At first, Ahn tried to align himself with the mainstream, and I think he did not want to position himself as a Pro-Yoon candidate."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "Ahn has come to his senses, but it was too late," and criticized, "Now that it is clear that the Blue House is rejecting him and the Pro-Yoon candidate title is completely lost, he suddenly attacks Yoon core members and Representative Jang Je-won. Isn't this very opportunistic politics?"

Cheon said, "In the past, Ahn had a sense of 'new politics.' Then he should have talked about innovation and the future, not whether he was Pro-Yoon or anti-Yoon," adding, "I feel a great regret that Ahn has become an old-fashioned politician with only traces of new politics left from the past."

He continued, "Now, he has become an anti-Yoon old-fashioned politician. So, he is anti-Yoon but has no reformist aspect at all," and said, "He wants to line up with Yoon (President Yoon Suk-yeol), and when told not to use the term 'Yoon-Ahn alliance,' he immediately says he won't use it. So, I wonder what exactly Ahn's stance is."

Cheon also criticized the Blue House's response. He said, "Separately, the Blue House's kind of intervention is very inappropriate," adding, "It's not just expressing dissatisfaction with Ahn through a statement, but suddenly the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs appears and directly criticizes Ahn. This is a very inappropriate behavior and is actually helping Ahn grow."

Regarding lawyer Shin Pyeong, who serves as the sponsorship chairman for candidate Kim Ki-hyun, saying "If Ahn becomes party leader, President Yoon will leave the party," Cheon pointed out, "Is it reasonable for the president's departure to be a major issue at the ruling party's first party convention?" What is candidate Kim doing? At this point, shouldn't he be immediately dismissed?"