Ahn: "Will listen to residents and students and persuade the government"
On Lee Jaemyung's resignation as party leader: "He should retire"
On the 9th, Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, met with medical students and residents as his first schedule after declaring his presidential candidacy, stating that the damaged medical system due to the medical crisis must be restored and that he will seek solutions to the problem.
On the same day, Ahn held a 'Medical Students and Residents Meeting' at Korea University College of Medicine in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, saying, "We must quickly return to the path of normalizing healthcare to prevent the unfortunate occurrence of excess deaths."
Ahn's side explained that since the reason for a nation's existence is to protect the lives and safety of its people, as a presidential candidate, he chose to carry out his first schedule in the medical field, which is most closely related to the lives of the people.
Ahn said, "I have made great efforts to solve this problem by meeting with hospital officials and senior officials from the government and the Yongsan Presidential Office," adding, "However, negotiations repeatedly failed because the number 2,000 was the figure mentioned by former President Yoon Seok-youl, and they said it could not be changed."
Ahn stated, "The president has stepped down, and now is the time to solve the problem. I estimate that the potential deaths due to the medical crisis are about 10,000. The budget spent is estimated to exceed 5 trillion won, and local healthcare has completely collapsed," adding, "We cannot leave it as it is. I promise to listen to the residents and students, persuade the government, and quickly develop and implement solutions."
On the same day, Ahn proposed strengthening essential and local healthcare, legal reforms, and adjusting health insurance fees as measures to resolve the medical crisis to the medical staff.
After the meeting, Ahn met with reporters and commented on former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung stepping down from his party leadership position, saying, "Rather than expressing his intention to resign, I think it would be more appropriate for former leader Lee to retire."
Regarding Kim Moon-soo, former Minister of Employment and Labor and currently the top presidential candidate in the People Power Party, Ahn said, "He has made his own decision to run, but one of the concerns you have now is that there are limitations to his expandability," issuing a cautionary remark.
On the discussion about Prime Minister and Acting President Han Duck-soo running for president, Ahn said, "It is factually impossible both in terms of timing and physically," pointing out, "Former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn also could not run as a presidential candidate because he had to manage the presidential election."
Regarding the introduction of a runoff vote in the presidential candidate primary, Ahn said, "I believe it is absolutely necessary to apply dynamic rules to the primary," adding, "If it attracts a lot of attention, the candidate (from the People Power Party) may have a higher chance of winning."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
