Ahn Cheol-soo: "Lee's Guilt Unknown, Running for President Deceives the People"

Ahn Cheol-soo Urges Lee Jae-myung to "Retire from Politics"

Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party-government meeting held at the National Assembly on the 18th to strengthen AI competitiveness. 2025.2.18 Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the 23rd, Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, directly told Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, "Stop now and retire from politics."

At a press conference held at the National Assembly that day, Ahn said, "It is an act of deceiving the people to force them to choose (by running in an early presidential election) when the trial is ongoing and it is uncertain whether the verdict will be guilty or not."

He also criticized the Democratic Party for submitting 30 impeachment motions since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol government, saying, "It only serves the purpose of 'making Lee Jae-myung president,'" and added, "It is not an exaggeration to call them forces that destroy the Republic of Korea and the liberal democratic system, and forces that seek to overthrow the system."

After the press conference, Ahn told reporters about the scheduled ruling on the impeachment trial of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the 24th, "I hope the impeachment of Prime Minister Han is dismissed as soon as possible. Only then can normal diplomacy be possible from the next day," and said, "If it is dismissed, Leader Lee must apologize to the public."

Lee Won-hyuk, deputy spokesperson of the Democratic Party, issued a statement that day, saying, "Ahn Cheol-soo's remarks are inconsistent and incoherent," and criticized, "He criticized Yoon Seok-yeol during the martial law period but now that impeachment is imminent, is he trying to 'withdraw' again? Why does he follow the claims of the leader of the rebellion as they are?"