Mayor Park advised Ahn against new party

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and professor Ahn Cheol-soo held a closed-door meeting late last month, according to officials Tuesday.

“I met with Ahn on Nov. 27 in Yeouido,” the mayor said Tuesday over a luncheon with the city council members.

“I told him that it may not be wise to create a new political party.”

Their one-on-one meeting came shortly before Ahn announced last Thursday that he had no plans to establish a political party.

The meeting was requested by Park, who wished to express his gratitude to the professor for his help in the Oct. 26 mayoral by-election, metropolitan government officials said.

The IT entrepreneur-turned-professor was earlier rumored to run for Seoul mayor but gave way to Park, who won a sweeping victory over his right-wing rival Na Kyung-won.

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