Ruling lawmakers question potential candidate’s past


The ruling Saenuri Party has started to fire salvos at Seoul National University professor Ahn Cheol-soo, as the budding presidential hopeful makes further moves into politics.

“Ahn Cheol-soo, the dean of Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, should apologize to the citizens for not walking the walk,” Saenuri Party Rep. Cho Won-jin said in a radio interview on Thursday.

The former software mogul has come under fire for signing a petition in 2003 to reduce SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won’s three-year sentence for several offenses including accounting fraud. Ahn was at the time a member of the V Society, a gathering of CEOs then headed by Chey.

The Saenuri Party jumped at the chance to start questioning Ahn’s “double standards,” saying he had voted for leniency for the business tycoon’s irregularities, contrary to his current advocacy on chaebol reform.

The ruling party has been uneasy over the surge in Ahn’s popularity ratings, which surpassed 40 percent and those of the party’s frontrunner Park Geun-hye upon the release of his book last month and a television talk show appearance.

Although Ahn has still not clarified his position on a bid, his recent moves were widely considered to be the launch of a challenge for the presidency.

Cho, the party’s head of strategy and planning, raised suspicions surrounding Ahn’s connection with Chey by pointing out that the latter had purchased 30 percent of shares in IA Security, a wireless security company set up by Ahn’s anti-virus institute.

Ahn is also criticized for taking part in V Society’s 2001 move to set up an Internet bank as part of the conglomerates’ attempt to advance into the banking industry. In his book “Thoughts of Ahn Cheol-soo,” Ahn argues that the restrictions on industrial capital owning a bank must be fortified.

“Ahn is showing a classic case of double standards. While he chants chaebol reform, the way he lived through his career is the opposite,” a party official said.

As the offensives escalated, Ahn’s aides came to his defense.

Geum Tae-seop, a lawyer close to Ahn, appeared on a radio show on Thursday morning and argued that Ahn’s signing of the petition did not mean he was close to Chey.

“It was signed by all 40 members (of V Society),” Geum said, adding that, regardless, it was the wrong thing to do and Ahn is accepting the criticism.

With regard to the Internet bank, Geum explained Ahn participated in the move as part of his line of business in Internet security, but did not help establish the bank.

Around 20 conglomerates and venture companies including SK, Lotte and Kolon established “V Bank Consulting” to work on the concept of “V Bank,” an online exclusive bank. The effort, however, was scrapped due to legal restrictions. Ahnlab had participated by investing 30 million won through its subsidiary company.

“Everyone makes mistakes, but the important thing is how one accepts such trials and errors and how one fixes them accordingly,” Geum said.

As parties inch closer to the main leg of the presidential campaign, the attacks on Ahn are likely to continue escalating.

It was reported that the Saenuri Party is focusing on collecting information relevant to Ahn’s activities at V Society and as an outside director for a steel conglomerate, to brace for Ahn’s formal advancement into the presidential race.

The main opposition Democratic United Party remained cautious on Ahn, apparently mindful of a possible alliance with the popular political aspirant down the road.

But some of the DUP’s presidential hopefuls were more vocal about their potential contender.

“Ahn’s weakness is that he has no political experience. As the presidential election day approaches, the people will take a long hard look at the candidates to decide whether to pick one with or without political experience,” Chung Sye-kyun said during a meeting with senior journalists on Thursday.

“If Ahn wishes to become president, he must undergo the verification of his qualifications, all the more so if he is to elevate his competitiveness for the main race.”

Ahn’s aides, in the meantime, said it was not worth responding to every attack and added they are currently taking time to gauge public sentiment.

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