Meet Ahn Cheol-soo: The South Korean software tycoon who is now Seoul’s No. 1 political powerbroker
After recent election, securing Ahn’s support will be key for President Park to be able to pass legislation in her final two years in office.
For years, Ahn Cheol-soo would rise at 3am, warming himself with a blanket and a cup of coffee, to code a computer anti-virus program that he would later distribute free to millions of South Koreans, making him a household name.
The company he founded in 1995, Ahnlab, went on to become South Korea’s leading anti-virus software developer. On Thursday its shares surged as much as 21 per cent after its biggest shareholder, who began dabbling in politics about five years ago, led his People’s Party (PP) to a strong showing in parliamentary elections. The party almost doubled its seats, denying President Park Geun-hye’s party a majority and setting Ahn up as kingpin in the new legislature.
It’s much better if Ahn positions himself ideologically between the two as a centrist, modernising, classical-liberal, libertarian alternative
The poor showing by Park’s Saenuri party – which confounded some opinion polls beforehand suggesting she’d pick up more seats – has raised the risk of further gridlock in the parliament and sets back her economic agenda.
Securing Ahn’s support will be key for Park to be able to pass legislation in her final two years in office. So far Ahn has not indicated whether he will back Park in the new parliament.
Ahn, a medical doctor, only formed the PP in February after breaking off from the main opposition Minjoo party to offer a more centrist alternative to the main political groupings. He was elected to parliament in Wednesday’s vote.
Touted as a probable candidate in the 2017 presidential race, Ahn has offered few policy specifics. He has cited former US president Franklin Roosevelt as a role model and advocates higher welfare spending, stiffer capital gains taxes and caution on free trade agreements. He has been critical of Park’s get-tough policy on North Korea and favours expanding economic ties to entice Pyongyang to give up nuclear weapons.
“It’s much better if Ahn positions himself ideologically between the two as a centrist, modernising, classical-liberal, libertarian alternative,” said Robert Kelly, a political science professor at South Korea’s Pusan National University.