Ahn heads to US after voting

Former independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo waves at Incheon International Airport, Wendesday, before departing for San Francisco where he is expected to stay for a month or two. / Yonhap

Ahn Cheol-soo, a former independent presidential candidate who later showed lukewarm support for Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), left Seoul for San Francisco, Wednesday, hours after casting his ballot.

“I am thinking about how I can repay the support that I have received from the people,” he said in a statement released after his departure. The software millionaire left the country in the afternoon, hours before the election results were made public.

“I hope that the winner of the election can embrace the candidate who was defeated, who in turn can concede defeat and cooperate with the government under a new president,” he said.

The former Seoul National University professor said there are no such things as winners or losers for people living in a democracy.

On Wednesday, Ahn voted at a polling station in Yongsan, Seoul, in the morning along with his wife Kim Mi-kyung. After exchanging greetings with people gathered there, he asked whether they had voted or not. After this, he cast his ballot.

He and his wife left the polling station without answering any questions from reporters. Ahn flew alone to San Francisco in the afternoon.

His aides said Ahn will stay at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, Calif., for one or two months in order to take a rest and also have time to think about his future course of action within politics.

Details of his plan, such as under what capacity he will be there and when he will return are not known.

On the eve of polling day, Ahn met with volunteers who worked for him until he dropped out of the race in November.

During the meeting, he was quoted as asking his supporters to keep supporting him no matter how the election results turn out.

“I believe that people’s aspiration for new politics has not faded. It still exists and resonates vividly. I am willing to accept your call if you organize a meeting and then invite me to show up there to talk,” he said.

“I rarely shed tears. When I announced I was to drop out of the presidential election, I was not sad at all. But I feel like I may become tearful as I look at all of you volunteers here.”

Earlier, the 50-year-old said he would continue to be a politician, no matter how the election results turn out, without going into detail. <The Korea Times/Kang Hyun-kyung>