Park Sun-sook, a former lawmaker and secretary general of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), left, walks behind independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, at Seoul National Cemetery, Wednesday. She was appointed as the head of Ahn’s campaign team. / Yonhap

Software millionaire lacks clear vision, strong desire, support base

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Ahn Cheol-soo has finally launched his presidential bid, ending months of speculation about his political ambitions.

After a lengthy declaration that he will run and a subsequent question-and-answer session, at least three things remain unclear.

First, does he have desire to become president?

It’s the will of people that made him participate in the Dec. 19 presidential election, he said, leaving ample doubt about his intentions.

Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Ramstad, captured it well when he expressed his doubt on a radio talk show Thursday morning. He said that the presidency is a job that can only be filled by someone who has a strong personal sense of achievement. Ramstad’s conclusion was that Ahn has not shown this so far.

One can only guess whether the 50-year-old has this but has hidden it so far.

By the way he handles himself some say that he outperforms the other political players.

Ahn also doesn’t have enough political experience to become president by many people’s standards and even more important is the fact that he doesn’t have systematic support such as a party to back him up.

His team opened a Facebook account (www.faceboook.com/ahnspeaker), saying it will be a vehicle through which they will communicate with supporters by disseminating information about the presidential candidate and getting their reactions.

Ahn, who developed the nation’s first anti-virus software, revealed his intention to differentiate himself from current politicians through the unprecedented campaign tactic.

Campaign watchers say it appears to be designed to curry favor with his supporters as well as to appeal to moderate voters who are sick of established politics.

But what he lacks doesn’t necessarily mean he is at an insurmountable disadvantage.

First of all, it has been proven that he has political capital from voters disenchanted by established politics. Ahn said during his bid declaration that he doesn’t have the backing of an organization but neither does he have political debts to pay back if he is elected.

“I am not sure if having extensive experience in politics is good enough to make one eligible for president,” Ahn said. He said his “horizontal leadership,” political reform, innovative and digital mind would help him overcome problems.

Then again, his camp is already working overtime to bring in politicians with clean images, while floating the idea of an alliance with an established party.

On Thursday, Keum Tae-sup, a lawyer working for Ahn, opened the possibility of him negotiating with Rep. Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP).

Keum said if certain conditions are met, he believes Ahn may consider collaborating with the DUP. His remarks were construed as meaning that Ahn would not rule out the possibility of running in the presidential election on the DUP ticket if Moon agrees to back him as the standard bearer of the opposition camp.

Ahn has not also offered a detailed agenda on where he stands on North Korea and his views about the ongoing national narrative about economic democratization.

It is not clear whether he and his team can declare their position on a wide range of issues.

Pollsters characterized supporters of Ahn as people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who are sick and tired of old politics.

It remains to be seen whether these voters, who have shown political apathy, will continue to stand by Ahn if he agrees with Moon, to pick a unified candidate for the opposition camp, they said.

Hong Sung-gul, a professor of Kookmin University in Seoul, said Ahn will be troubled no matter how the drive to pick a unified candidate turns out.

“If they agree to select a standard bearer, Ahn will face pressure. If Ahn is chosen, he will probably need to run on the DUP ticket,” he said.

Considering his supporters are haters of old politics and existing political parties, Hong said, it’s questionable if Ahn’s backers will continue to support him if he compromises with a current politician.

The political scientist predicted Ahn would also face a tricky situation if he endorses Moon.

“I am wondering if his fans will continue to show their support if he withdraws his bid in favor of the DUP presidential candidate. Will this look convincing to people seeking new politics that can replace old politics?”

Yoon Hee-woong, a senior fellow of the Seoul-based polling agency Korea Society Opinion Institute, said Ahn’s endorsement of Park Won-soon for Seoul mayor last year was different from a possible endorsement for Moon.

“Park was a long-time civic group activist. So Ahn felt relatively little pressure when he announced he would not run in the Seoul mayoral race and would support Park. But if Ahn supports Moon, the message will sound very different because Moon is a politician.”