“Stop Lee Gi-heung’s 3rd term”
With the 42nd presidential election to be held on January 14 next year, people are paying more attention than ever before. In particular, the movement to unify the candidates for the “opposition camp” aimed at preventing Lee Ki-heung (69), the current president of the Korean Olympic Committee, has emerged to the surface, drawing keen attention.
Four candidates, Kang Shin-wook (68), a professor at Dankook University, Park Chang-beom (55), a former president of the Korea Wushu Association, Yoo Seung Min (42), a former president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, and Ahn Sang-soo (78), a former mayor of Incheon, held an emergency meeting on the 17th to unify the candidates. They agreed on the principle of unification in a large framework and agreed to resolve the narrow gap by the 23rd, a day before candidate registration.
On top of that, Kang Tae-sun (75), chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Sports Council, who was absent from the four-way meeting, also expressed his agreement on unification in a separate press release on the 18th. “Unification is an essential turning point for solving problems facing the sports community and restoring trust and fairness,” Kang said. “I fully agree with the spirit and goal discussed at the unification meeting.”
However, there are many mountains to overcome in order for the actual unification to take place. First of all, each candidate has different ideas in the methodology of achieving unification.
The election of the president of the Korea Sports Council is not conducted by the general public, but by a vote of 2,300 sportsmen. The election management committee of the chairman of the sports council will randomly draw 23,000 people, 10 times the number of the electors, and select 2,300 people.
Candidate Yoo Seung Min, who is highly recognized by the public, insists on polling as an objective indicator that all candidates will accept. He argued, “The poll is the most convincing indicator as it is practically impossible to conduct an approval rating survey with only athletes as a group.”
However, other candidates made clear their opposition, saying, “The public opinion poll will actually be a popular vote.”
Candidate Kang Shin-wook said in an interview with Yonhap News, “Unified dialogue is as frustrating as talking in the air because there is no accurate data (to confirm the candidates’ support).”
Candidate Kang Tae-sun stressed, “(Discussions on unification) should not simply remain at the level of election strategy or atmosphere creation.”
Some candidates came up with the idea of having their own vote, “Who among the other candidates is suitable for the next chairman, except for the candidate himself,” but the feasibility is also slim.
Basically, all of the candidates want to unify themselves, but it is not easy to gather opinions on one. Still, there is still 23 days left. Opposition candidates’ desire and commitment to unification are stronger and more serious than ever, so the possibility of reaching a conclusion is still open. 메이저놀이터
Candidate Park Chang-beom, who arranged the four-way meeting, said, “As we have agreed on a unified representation, the candidates agreed that we will reach a conclusion in some way by the 23rd,” and emphasized, “We will need to make a decision to give up ourselves in the end.”
Candidate Yoo Seung Min also said, “All candidates agree on the change of the sports committee and the need for unification, but there were differences in the methodology of creating indicators that anyone can accept,” adding, “We plan to draw a conclusion by the 23rd anyway.”
Attention is focusing on whether opposition candidates, united under the big flag of “anti-Lee Ki-heung solidarity,” will be able to break through various obstacles and reach a conclusion.
