South Korean software mogul to stand for presidency

SEOUL | Wed Sep 19, 2012 2:09am EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean software mogul Ahn Cheol-soo ended a year of speculation on Wednesday when he announced he would run for the presidency, throwing wide open a race that had looked to be all but a coronation for conservative candidate Park Geun-hye.

Ahn, 50, is a physician by training and founded the software antivirus firm Ahnlab Inc. after he quit medicine. He has no political background but has been considered the only credible challenger to Park according to public opinion polls.

"The people have expressed their hope for political reform through me. I want to become the person who puts that hope to practice by entering the 18th presidential election," Ahn told a cheering crowd in a hall in Seoul.

Ahn has advocated greater welfare coverage and tighter regulation on big businesses who he has described as treating their employees like caged animals in a zoo.

He has taken a tough stance on a bellicose North Korea, which remains at war with the South after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice.

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/worldNews/~3/1JXx134pD_4/us-korea-politics-ahn-idUSBRE88I09420120919

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