ID :
205490
Tue, 09/06/2011 - 11:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/205490
The shortlink copeid
Ahnlab founder drops Seoul mayoral bid to support liberal activist
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- Ahn Cheol-soo, a potentially powerful candidate for Seoul mayor, announced Tuesday that he has decided against a run and will instead back a leading liberal activist in the upcoming election.
The announcement came right after Ahn met with the lawyer-turned-activist, Park Won-soon, about which of the two should run as a unified candidate in October's by-election. Ex-mayor Oh Se-hoon quit last month after failing to block an opposition-led free school lunch program in the city's first-ever referendum.
"Park has devoted to himself to our society, blooming new flowers in the grass roots activism. I believe he can perform as Seoul mayor better than anyone else," Ahn said at a joint conference with Park. "I decided not to run for Seoul mayor."
Ahn, a doctor-turned-computer expert who founded South Korea's best-known anti-virus software firm Ahnlab, is widely popular, especially among young Koreans, due in part to his clean image. Surveys have put him well ahead of other possible contenders from both the ruling and opposition parties.
A self-claimed "social designer," Park founded the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, one of the country's largest civic organizations, in 1994 with a stated goal of reforming politics through grassroots activism. He is now the director of private think tank Hope Institute.
The announcement came right after Ahn met with the lawyer-turned-activist, Park Won-soon, about which of the two should run as a unified candidate in October's by-election. Ex-mayor Oh Se-hoon quit last month after failing to block an opposition-led free school lunch program in the city's first-ever referendum.
"Park has devoted to himself to our society, blooming new flowers in the grass roots activism. I believe he can perform as Seoul mayor better than anyone else," Ahn said at a joint conference with Park. "I decided not to run for Seoul mayor."
Ahn, a doctor-turned-computer expert who founded South Korea's best-known anti-virus software firm Ahnlab, is widely popular, especially among young Koreans, due in part to his clean image. Surveys have put him well ahead of other possible contenders from both the ruling and opposition parties.
A self-claimed "social designer," Park founded the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, one of the country's largest civic organizations, in 1994 with a stated goal of reforming politics through grassroots activism. He is now the director of private think tank Hope Institute.
