Will Ahn declare presidential bid?

Ahn Cheol-soo

Amid mounting speculations about his presidential ambition, rumors abound that Ahn Cheol-soo, a software tycoon and university dean, is poised to break his silence, drawing public attention prior to an upcoming lecture in Busan.

He is scheduled to speak to Pusan University students May 30, as part of his lecture series. The lecture coincides with the opening of the 19th National Assembly session, making the event more politically charged.

Ahn’s possible moves are the most hard-to-predict and most important question in current domestic politics.

Korea’s hottest political star gained unprecedented public support last year  and the Seoul mayoral election last October was proof, as his affirmed support for the liberal candidate Park Won-soon gained the latter a sweeping victory. Political analysts explained his stance against inequality and social injustice is behind his popularity.

In November last year, he announced he’d donate half of his 37 percent stake in his company to charity. The donated share was worth almost $195 million, making him one of the most generous donors in Korea. In February this year, he launched a charity to assist the underprivileged.

However, his prolonged silence about his moves have politicians in both the ruling Saenuri Party and the opposition Democratic Unified Party (DUP) on edge. Rep, Hwang woo-yeo, chairman of the ruling party, urged Ahn to be quick in declaring his position.
But, for Ahn, it’s a game where he can stay silent for as long as he wants to.

His aides are believed to be carefully gauging the options on the table.

One option is to run as an independent candidate. With a good chance of winning, he still has to answer one question: Will he be able to get his job done without any political support?

Plus, he’ll have to live through accusations from the liberal party that he made his move to politically betray the DUP.

Joining the opposition party is another option, but it’s less favored by Ahn himself. Moon Jae-in, the likeliest frontrunner of the party invited him more than twice to join his election campaign. What Moon has in his mind is to keep Ahn as his running mate, and to appoint him as prime minister.

The last option _ the least likely one of all _ is joining the Saenuri Party.

This option will earn him experience as a politician in exchange for damage to his image as a moderate, fresh candidate. Additionally, it’ll be a precursor to an unprecedented competition against Park Geun-hye, a heavyweight contender.

However, an aide to Ahn dismissed speculations surrounding the lecture.

“It is part of ongoing lecture series. Nothing more! It’s absurd to see people take this too far,” the aid told The Korea Times Sunday.

Regarding his withdrawal from teaching next semester at Seoul National University, she said the decision was far from being political.

“As a dean, he didn’t have to take on a teaching position at all. But in his first year he decided to teach so that he could get to know his students and interact with them,” she said. <Korea Times/Kim Se-jeong>

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