Ahn denies he is in politics

Says ‘I am not a politician,’ but speculation persists


Professor Ahn Cheol-soo, whom local media have painted as the top potential presidential candidate for the liberal camp, once again denied the possibility of his political debut.

Observers, nevertheless, held on to speculation that he may still enter the presidential race later on.

“If parties would fulfill their given duties, I do not see why a person like myself should worry about politics,” Ahn told reporters Saturday.

“As an ordinary citizen, I have my hopes on the current parties as they seem to be determined to embrace the people’s voices and to make changes.”

Ahn Cheol-soo, Seoul National University professor and founder of IT enterprise AhnLab, talks to reporters at Incheon International Airport Saturday after returning from his trip to the United States. (Yonhap News)

Ahn came back from his 13-day trip to the United States, where he sought to recruit new teaching staff members for the Seoul National University Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology.

During his stay, Ahn met with global IT magnates such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Google chairman Eric Schmidt.

Shortly before leaving for the trip, he had said that his primary concerns lay with his company, school and the foundation that he pledged to establish as early as next month.

Ahn, however, left room for speculation on his plans as he responded vaguely to questions directly related to the presidential race.

“The time may come when I will have to make a critical decision, but I cannot plan or choose anything in advance,” he said.

He also remained silent when asked whether he enter the race for the presidential post in December.

The professor said that his remarks or actions should not be seen with a political perspective.

“People keep on making up stories about my potential political career, but most of them are flawed because I am not a politician,” he said.

The IT entrepreneur-turned-professor moved into the local media spotlight after he considered running for the Seoul mayoral by-election last October.

Though he gave way to liberal activist and friend Park Won-soon for the post, Ahn has since been regarded as the top rival to Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Grand National Party, the right-wing’s presidential hopeful.

Rumors also persist over the possibility that he may create a new political party as a substitute to the present left-wing camp.

In a public poll conducted last week by Herald Business, Ahn won 48.9 percent of the respondents’ votes with a 9 percentage point lead over Park.

He received the majority support from those who picked “communication” as the top virtue needed of the next president.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)