While conservatives are held back by bitter party feud, Democratic Party of Korea's Lee Jae-myung hitting campaign trail daily and gliding through polls
With the June 3 presidential election less than a month away, the People Power party is gripped by an infighting that has spilled into public view.
Former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo on Saturday filed an injunction with the court seeking to nullify the People Power Party leadership's decision to cancel his nomination for president.
Kim held an emergency press conference and said the People Power Party dropping his nomination was "unlawful" and "unjust." "In the dead of the night, a political coup unfolded right under my nose," he said.
Kim applied for injunction with the Seoul's southern district court at 12:35 p.m. according to his campaign office. The court on Friday dismissed another injunction filed by Kim for barring the People Power Party nomination process from starting over.
At around 4 a.m. Saturday, the entire People Power Party, after an all-night meeting, reached an agreement to remove Kim and reopen the process to select a new nominee.
After he won the primary on May 3, however, Kim appeared to rethink his initial pledge to join forces with Han Duck-soo, the former prime minister who served as acting president for the past few months.
According to party insiders familiar with the matter, Kim entered the primary on the promise of endorsing Han, who later stepped down as acting president. But Kim retreated from behind-the-scenes negotiations once he snagged the nomination, ultimately declaring he would run by himself.
In a press conference Saturday, Rep. Kwon Young-se, the People Power Party's leader, apologized for the switch in nomination close to the deadline for presidential candidate registration with the National Election Commission, which is Sunday.
"Our party did our best to put together a 'big tent' presidential campaign," Kwon said. "We have been communicating and coordinating with candidate Kim Moon-soo, repeatedly asking him to keep his promise of forming a united front. I'm incredibly disheartened that our efforts for reaching a consensus have failed."
The People Power Party leadership has said that a "big tent campaign" and "united front" joining the party's strongest options was the "only way" to beat Lee Jae-myung, the rival Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate.
The People Power Party entered Han as its nominee to replace Kim.
Han presented himself as reformer and negotiator in an address Saturday. The former acting president said he was the only candidate who will reform the political power structure, which would necessitate a revision of the Constitution, and lead the economy out of its doldrums.
"I had the honor of serving South Korea and its great people for the last 50 years. It would be my honor to have the opportunity to serve the country at a time of time of tumultuous change," Han said.
Han said that if the conservatives aren't united, the People Power Party would risk handing the country over to the forces who "threaten to change laws and impeach officials if it means they can get their way."
Outside the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on Saturday, competing rallies for and against the nomination switch unfolded.
Some of the other candidates who ran in the People Power Party came to Kim's defense, with four-time Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo saying it was the former labor minister's "prerogative" to run his campaign as he wished. Ahn, in a press conference Saturday, called on the party leadership to resign over the "nominee flip-flop."
While the People Power Party is held back by a bitter party feud, the Democratic Party's Lee is hitting the trail daily and gliding through the polls.
Lee, who is on day 10 of his "listening tour" around the rural parts of the country, visited the South Gyeongsang Province on Saturday, holding meetings with small business owners and residents of counties.
Rep. Kim Min-seok, who is on the Democratic Party's supreme council, said the current People Power Party leaders "will be going down as the greatest fools in the history of South Korean politics" for what they pulled close to the election.
As of Saturday, there are 24 days left until the election.
arin@heraldcorp.com
