Ahn Cheol-soo, a venture entrepreneur-turned-professor revered by many young Koreans, said Friday that he was considering running for Seoul mayor as an independent candidate in next month’s by-elections. 

“I have not yet made up my mind,” Ahn told reporters in Seoul, denying a news report that he has already decided to run.

“I will tell you when I do.”

Several people close to him said the dean and professor of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University has no interest in entering politics, but is attracted to the challenge of running the country’s capital.

Seoul citizens will pick their new mayor in a by-election on Oct. 26, after Oh Se-hoon, a conservative mayor belonging to the ruling Grand National Party, stepped down from the post last month.

The news of Ahn’s possible run jolted rival political parties, which have been gearing up for a conservative-liberal showdown in the by-elections.

A victory in Seoul would give them the much-needed upper hand in the run-up to the parliamentary and presidential votes next year.

Ahn commands respect across the country’s political spectrum.

He gave up his career as a medical doctor to found AhnLab, the country’s biggest antivirus software firm, in 1995. He pioneered developments of computer vaccine programs. Several public surveys rank him as one of the most respected individuals in Korea.

Officials at the liberal opposition Democratic Party were busy gauging the impact of Ahn’s possible entry on their chances of winning the election.

They worry that the professor’s candidacy would erode the DP’s main support base of young, moderate and center-left voters.

“If he does run, we will have to adjust our strategy,” a DP official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.

The DP and other progressive groups had earlier agreed to band together against the conservative ruling camp and field a unified candidate, although they have yet to work out how.

Park Won-soon, a widely respected lawyer-turned-civil activist, is said to be considering a bid at the liberal standard-bearer.

Park, a self-claimed “social designer,” is known for his clean and upright image. He founded the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, one of the country’s largest civic groups, in 1994 with a goal of reforming the politics through grassroots activism.

He is now the director of the Hope Institute, a private think tank for citizens’ interests. According to his close aides, Park plans to announce his bid to run for Seoul mayor when he comes back from a hiking trip next week.

The possible entry of Ahn and Park weighs on the GNP’s search for their flag-bearer as well.

Party chairman Hong Joon-pyo said: “We must field a candidate who can win.”

Names of Reps. Na Kyung-won and Jung Doo-un are floated as potential candidates of the Grand National Party, but some members say they will have to put up a more powerful figure such as Chung Un-chan or Kim Hwang-sik, who are former and incumbent prime ministers, respectively.

On the opposition side, some speculate that Han Myeong-sook, a former prime minister under the liberal administration of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, may run.

Han, who was the nation’s first female premier, came close to winning the mayoral election in 2010. She lost to then-incumbent Oh by a margin of just 0.6 percentage point.

So far, two have officially announced their bid in the Seoul mayoral election. They are both DP members ― Rep. Chun Jung-bae and former Rep. Shin Geh-ryoon.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)