Han Duck-soo stays silent on presidential bid; DP files criminal charges over his controversial justice nominations
Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday that he was expecting swift negotiations between delegates of Seoul and Washington over a range of subjects, including the US tariff imposition on South Korean goods.
"It seems likely that negotiations will commence in all areas between Korea and the United States to draw up specifics as soon as possible," Han said, adding that Trump "appears to have given orders" to hold "immediate negotiations with South Korea, Japan and India" without elaborating where he heard it from.
The acting president also said Seoul would dispatch a group of South Korean representatives led by Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun soon for further tariff negotiations, according to Han's office.
Within a couple of days, a virtual call will also take place between the two countries over a stalled liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, which Washington asked South Korean entities to take part, Han added.
Han was Trump's South Korean counterpart in a phone talk the previous week when the US "reciprocal" tariff was imminent. It was Trump's first conversation with a South Korean leader since his inauguration in January.
The remarks came as Han, the 75-year-old who served as Korea's prime minister throughout Yoon's three-year term, emerged as a central figure in the presidential race following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's removal from office.
Amid the possibility of Han declaring his bid for the presidency, he told the Cabinet that he would stay committed to "fulfilling the last mission" assigned to him and the ministers, referring to the ongoing tariff negotiations with the United States as his role as the acting president ends after a new leader is elected.
Although Han has yet to map out his presidential bid ahead of the June 3 election, recent polls suggest that his potential entrance to the race could be a game-changing decision. None of the conservative presidential hopefuls have managed to narrow the gap with Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, according to recent polls.
A poll on Monday by Realmeter showed that Han's popularity was higher than most of the other conservative presidential hopefuls in his first appearance.
Han's popularity stood at 8.6 percent, just behind former labor minister Kim Moon-soo at 10.9 percent among conservative presidential hopefuls, according to the poll of 1,506 respondents from Wednesday to Friday the previous week.
From within the conservative People Power Party, with which former President Yoon is affiliated, some lawmakers openly endorsed Han's presidential bid.
Rep. Sung Il-jong, a three-term lawmaker of the People Power Party, said Sunday that Han should not ignore the people's expectations for him to be the next leader of the country. He noted on Facebook that South Korea "needs a leader to confront the external turbulence through a gentle and stable relationship from day one" of the inauguration.
If Han is to run for president while representing South Korea's major conservative People Power Party, he must register his candidacy with the party by Tuesday. Otherwise, Han may choose to run for president with a different party or as an independent candidate.
Some conservative presidential hopefuls, however, described the act of endorsing Han as being detrimental to the party, amid media speculations that some People Power Party lawmakers had sought to have Han join the presidential race with the party.
"Those with vested interests in the party are ... seriously saying that the upcoming primary is meaningless because the winner will later withdraw the presidential bid to endorse acting President Han," former conservative party chair Han Dong-hoon said in an interview with SBS Monday.
Another presidential hopeful, and former Daegu Mayor, Hong Joon-pyo said in a CBS interview that Han's presidential bid with the People Power Party is nonsense.
"It goes against common sense to run someone who is supposed to be tasked with maintaining neutrality in the presidential election, and to run someone who is the prime minister of the impeached former president," Hong said.
Interim leader of the main conservative party Rep. Kwon Young-se said Monday that the party would not endorse a specific figure without a primary in May to nominate its presidential candidate.
This comes as polls since Yoon's impeachment last December have consistently suggested that former Democratic Party Chair Lee has been overwhelmingly leading the presidential race for this year.
Monday's poll by Realmeter suggested that Lee's popularity came to 48.8 percent, about 40 percentage points higher than that of former Labor Minister Kim or incumbent Prime Minister Han.
The liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, on the other hand, sought criminal charges against Prime Minister Han Monday for his alleged abuse of power and negligence of official duty regarding his April 8 decision to fill in judicial vacancies at the Constitutional Court.
Han appointed left-leaning Ma Eun-hyuk as the Constitutional Court justice -- a nominee selected by the liberal Democratic Party-led parliament -- after nearly four months of deliberation, while independently appointing two right-leaning justice nominees, Lee Wan-kyu and Ham Sang-hoon. The Democratic Party claimed Han's performance of official duties was "undermining the function of the state and causing harm to the people."
Meanwhile, Han's absence at the parliament's government interpellation session triggered a backlash from the National Assembly. Rep. Woo Won-shik, speaker of the National Assembly, who expressed regret over Han's failure to attend the session, saying he was neglecting South Korea's legislative power.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
