Saenuri candidate slams rival for joining 2003 campaign to reduce sentence


Ruling Saenuri Party presidential frontrunner Park Geun-hye on Tuesday criticized Ahn Cheol-soo, hypothetically her biggest rival, for signing a petition in 2003 to reduce the jail sentence given to a corrupt business tycoon.

“That is exactly what we are trying to fix,” Park told reporters as she was attending her party’s general meeting, referring to her presidential campaign promoting “economic democratization” by curbing chaebol irregularities.

“(Stern reprimand against large conglomerates’ illegal activities) is one of the core goals of economic democratization,” she said.

This was the first time the former chairwoman directly criticized Ahn, who has been ahead of her in recent opinion polls following a number of public appearances. Ahn is yet to officially declare he presidential bid.
The former software mogul expressed regret on Monday upon the revelation that he signed, as a member of the V Society, a petition to reduce SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won’s three-year sentence for several offenses including accounting fraud. In a statement, Ahn said he should have acted more cautiously.

Other ruling party officials also condemned him.

“It will eventually come to light how (Ahn) is acting as if he is some sort of a saint,” said Kim Chong-in, a co-chairman of Park’s campaign team, in a local media interview.

The Park camp has been jittery over the recent resurgence of public attention on the Seoul National University professor upon the release of his book and a television appearance earlier.

“We cannot say outright who our biggest competitor is at this point (with Ahn remaining un-affiliated and un-declared) but we are paying attention as Ahn’s popularity seems pretty high,” professor Lee Sang-don, a member of Park’s political advisory committee, told The Korea Herald.

Several polls last week showed Ahn surpassing Park in popularity. A Gallup poll had Ahn ahead by 3 percent.

Park’s criticism was in contrast to her previous more friendly approach toward the progressive political aspirant, such comments as “he is a nice man.”

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)