Ahn Cheol-soo

Ahn Cheol-soo
안철수
Chairman of the People's Party
In office 2 February 2016 – 29 June 2016 Serving with Chun Jung-bae
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Park Jie-won
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 April 2013
Preceded by	Roh Hoe-chan
Constituency	Seoul Nowon C
Chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy
In office 26 March 2014 – 31 July 2014 Serving with Kim Han-gil
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Moon Jae-in
Personal details
Born	(1962-02-26) February 26, 1962 Miryang, South Korea
Nationality	South Korean
Political party	Independent (2013–14; 2015–16) NPAD (2014–15) People's Party (2016–present)
Spouse(s)	Kim Mi-kyung
Children	1 daughter
Alma mater	Seoul National University University of Pennsylvania
Occupation	Software entrepreneur
Known for	V3 (antivirus software)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	South Korea
Service/branch	Republic of Korea Navy
Years of service	1991–1994
Rank	Daewi
[1][2]

Ahn Cheol-soo (Hangul: 안철수 [an tɕʰʌlsʰu]; born February 26, 1962) is a South Korean politician, businessman, and software entrepreneur currently serving as a member of the National Assembly and as founding co-leader of the People's Party alongside Chun Jung-bae.^[3] He was previously co-chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy from March to July 2014. He ran as a candidate for the presidential election in 2012, but withdrew a month before the election took place.

Ahn founded AhnLab, Inc., an antivirus software company, in 1995. He was chairman of the board and Chief Learning Officer of AhnLab until September 2012, and remains the company's largest stakeholder. He also served as dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University until September 2012.

Early life

Ahn was born on February 26, 1962, in Miryang, South Korea, while his father was on military service there; he subsequently moved with his family to Busan, where he grew up.^[4] Growing up, Ahn was known to have loved to read books, at one point finishing every single book at his elementary school library.^[5]

He received his Doctor of Medicine (MD), Master of Science (MS), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in physiology from Seoul National University between 1980 and 1991.

Ahn researched computer antivirus software programs while at Seoul National University Hospital and Dankook University Hospital, and founded a venture company after finishing his military service as a medical officer in the South Korean navy. His research led to the creation of the V3 antivirus software. AhnLab, Inc. later became the largest computer security company in South Korea,^[6][7] and was included in annual lists of Korea's most admired companies by Korea Management Association Consulting between 2004 and 2008.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} He resigned as CEO in 2005, and until 2012 he served as chairman of the board. Ahn became an outside director of POSCO in 2005, and from 2010 to 2011 he was chairman of the company.

Ahn was awarded a master's degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree from the Wharton School (San Francisco campus) in 2008. He then became a professor at KAIST and in the beginning of 2011, Dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University.^[13]

In 1988 he married Kim Mi-kyung, who is currently a professor at the Seoul National University College of Medicine. Ahn has a daughter with Kim.^[14]

IT business

In March 1995, Ahn founded AhnLab, Inc. which became the country's leading antivirus software company.^[15] Ahn insisted that McAfee had suggested it would acquire AhnLab for $10,000,000 but Ahn rejected the offer. He mentioned patriotic reasons about the decision saying that selling AhnLab might allow a foreign firm to dominate the Korean market.

Political career

Entry into politics

In early September 2011, speculation spread that Ahn would enter politics by competing in the October 26 Seoul mayoral by-election. Analysts stated that if positioned as an independent, Ahn would attract a degree of support from those disaffected by mainstream political parties in the wake of corruption allegations and continuing policy failures. At this time, Ahn's support base was compared to that of Roh Moo-hyun in 2002.^[16] Ahn did not ultimately run in the Seoul contest, however.

He alluded to standing as a presidential candidate in his 2012 book Thoughts of Ahn Cheol-Soo.^[17]

2012 presidential campaign

On September 19, 2012 at 3 p.m. Korea Standard Time, Ahn held a press conference and announced his intention to run for the 2012 presidential election. This announcement came after months of speculation on whether or not Ahn was going to run for the presidency. The South Korean presidential election was to be held on December 19, 2012. In an address that lasted around 20 minutes, Ahn spent a considerable amount of time explaining how he came to the decision to run for President of the Republic of Korea, quoting the people he had met while exploring his candidacy, who had expressed their desire for a "new politics". Ahn at one point showed to be polling stronger than Moon Jae-in, with a few polls showing he could win against Park Geun-hye, the candidate who would go on to win the election. On November 23, 2012 at 8:20 p.m. KST, Ahn announced that he would drop out of the race,^[18] endorsing Moon Jae-in, the Democratic United Party presidential candidate.

2013 by-election and early Assembly career (2013–2016)

Ahn Cheol-soo in October 2013

On March 11, 2013, Ahn announced that he would run for a seat in the National Assembly of South Korea as an independent candidate in the by-election in the district of Seoul Nowon C. He won the election on April 24, entering his first elected office.^[19] In May 2013, he launched a new think tank named Policy Network Tomorrow.^[20]

Having entered the Assembly, Ahn began to explore the creation of a new party, which was provisionally named the New Political Vision Party on the basis of public surveys.^[21] On March 26, 2014, however, while the party was in the process of being set up, Ahn merged his faction with the liberal Democratic Party to form the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, becoming co-chairman of the new party alongside Kim Han-gil.^[22][23] Ahn and Kim both resigned from their position three months later in July, following the new party's disappointing performance in by-elections that year, which had seen the liberals lose a seat in Jeolla to conservatives for the first time in 26 years.^[24]

Ahn remained in the NPAD, but came into increasing conflict with Moon Jae-in, who had taken over sole leadership of the party after his resignation, and the "pro-Roh" faction that Moon represented. In December 2015, Ahn issued an ultimatum to Moon demanding that a convention be held at the beginning of 2016 to elect a new party leader. Moon rejected the demand.^[25] Ahn then left the NPAD along with a range of other lawmakers opposed to Moon, including Kim Han-gil.^[26] Announcing that he would form a new party, he subsequently joined forces with Chun Jung-bae, who had left the party earlier in the year,^[27] to form the People's Party in January 2016.^[28] Moon resigned as leader after Ahn's defection, describing his experience as "a series of difficult days without a single one of respite".^[29]

People's Party leader (2016–present)

Ahn positioned the new People's Party as an anti-establishment centrist force, attracting support from both political wings.^[30] He labeled the remaining NPAD "anachronistic progressives",^[31] and accused contemporary Korean politicians of lacking policies beyond "short-term gimmicks".^[32] In the lead-up to the April 13 parliamentary election, he came into conflict with his co-leader Chun and other members of the party after Kim Chong-in, the interim leader of the Minjoo Party, the NPAD's successor, called for the two parties to form an electoral alliance. Kim Han-gil and Ahn's co-leader Chun both supported the plan, but Ahn rejected any prospect of an alliance with his former party.^[33] The proposal was ultimately scotched, with Kim Han-gil withdrawing from the upcoming election in protest.^[34]

In the event, the People's Party performed better than anticipated, coming second in party-list voting and winning 38 seats overall, including 23 of the 28 districts in the liberal stronghold of Jeolla.^[35] The People's Party held the balance of power in the new Assembly, establishing a three-party system.^[36] Ahn was credited for the victory, which was seen as giving him a position as kingmaker and support for contesting the presidential elections in the following year.^[37][38] Following the election, Ahn rejected continued calls to regroup with the Minjoo Party, stating that "it would be inappropriate to speak of politically realigning at this point in time". He added that the People's Party would not be "a mere tie-breaking third party, but ... a new opinion leader in parliamentary affairs".^[39]

Political positions

Ahn has stated that he considers Franklin D. Roosevelt to be a role model,^[37] and has referred to himself as the Bernie Sanders of Korea.^[40] He supports an increased capital gains tax, higher public welfare spending, and a cautious approach to free trade agreements.^[37] Ahn has also made appeals to conservatives, however, and has associated the People's Party with "reformative" currents of Korean conservatism.^[41] In September 2012, Ahn visited the graves of Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, and Kim Dae-jung. Park Chung-hee and Syngman Rhee are often praised by Korean conservatives, and Kim Dae-jung by liberals. Ahn stated at the time that it would be "hypocritical to paint half the people as enemies and at the same time call for 'unity'".^[42]

Philanthropy

In December 2011, Ahn has expressed his willingness to donate half of his shares in AhnLab for the education of children from low-income families. He owns 37.1 percent of AhnLab shares, and as of 9 December 2011, the value of the shares to be donated is about 250 billion won ($218 million).^[43]

Legal problems

In September 2012, Ahn made a public apology as reports surfaced that his wife evaded taxes by under-pricing a 2001 apartment she bought worth ₩450 million to ₩250 million, thus reducing the acquisition and registration taxes by up to ₩10 million. However, a statement by the Korea Taxpayers' Association claimed that the "down contract" was in accordance with trade customs and thus not unlawful due to flaws in the local tax law between 1996 and 2005.^[44]

Bibliography

• 2012. Thought of Ahn Cheol-Soo (안철수의 생각). 김영사. 276 pages. ISBN 9788934958710
• 2009. Happy Virus by Ahn Cheol-soo (행복 바이러스 안철수: 안철수 박사가 쓴 안철수 이야기). 리젬. 136 pages. ISBN 9788992826259.^[45]
• 2009. My Mother Who Fostered My Ability (재능을 키워 준 나의 어머니). Jaeneung Academy. 143 pages. ISBN 9788976492456.
• 2007. My Turning Point (내 인생의 결정적 순간: 그 순간이 없었으면 지금의 나는 없다). IMAGE Box. 247 pages. ISBN 9788991684348.
• 2004. What We Need (CEO 안철수, 지금 우리에게 필요한 것은). KimYoung. 259 pages. ISBN 8934917202.
• 2003. My Choice (나의 선택: 무엇이든지 하고 싶지만 쉽게 결단을 내리지 못하는 젊음에게). JeongEum. 231 pages. ISBN 8990164192.
• 2001. Spiritual Showdown (CEO 안철수, 영혼이 있는 승부). KimYoung. 291 pages. ISBN 8934907525.
• 2000. Ahn’s Internet Shortcut (안철수의 인터넷 지름길). BookMark. 396 pages. ISBN 8988351142.
• 1997. Ahn’s Protection and Healing Computer Virus (안철수의 바이러스 예방과 치료). Information Age. 222 pages. ISBN 8985346865.
• 1996. Analysing Computer Virus and Making Antivirus Software (바이러스 분석과 백신 제작). Information Age. 391 pages. ISBN 8985346180.
• 1995. Eccentric Computer Doctor, Ahn Cheol-soo (별난 컴퓨터 의사 안철수). Vision. 336 pages. ISBN 8985456148.
• 1995. Learning Computer Easily (컴퓨터, 참 쉽네요!). Youngjin. 396 pages. ISBN 8931406509.

References

External links

• (Korean) Ahn Cheol-soo Camp