People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo on Sunday pledged to set up "institutional measures" to prevent the president from getting involved in party operations.
"We should do away with a president-centric, vertical relationship between the party and the government, and transition to a healthy relationship of mutual respect and cooperation," Kim said in a statement following his visit to the birthplace of Yook Young-su, the late wife of the late former President Park Chung-hee, in Okcheon, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul.
"The president's meddling with party affairs caused so much conflict in the past. Once the president got involved in election candidate nominations, it hurt the party's autonomy and democracy, and it caused internal friction as the party was becoming too president-oriented," Kim added, referring to issues under former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
"The moment the president decides to take over the party, democracy will be shaken," Kim added. "A decision has to be made to put an end to the wrong practice."
Kim said his three key principles for the PPP constitution will cover ensuring cooperation between the government and the party, keeping the two entities separate and adopting a zero-tolerance policy on internal factions.
"I will make sure to keep the president out of key party affairs, including candidate nominations and personnel decisions," Kim said. "All party affairs will be conducted independently and autonomously, in accordance with the party constitution and regulations. There will no longer be criticism that party affairs are influenced by the president and his aides."
Kim also urged his supporters to participate in the two-day early voting Thursday and Friday.
"If you have reservations about early voting and then miss out on the election altogether, it will be a massive loss," Kim said. "If you don't vote, we may end up with a bad government."
Conservative voters have raised issues with the early-voting system, saying it is susceptible to rigging. Kim said he was aware of the situation and said the PPP will try to ensure a clean process.
"Problems with the current early voting system have been brought up several times, and there are endless calls for improvements. However, the reality is that the system cannot be improved right away before this presidential election," Kim said. "I promise you that we at the PPP will do everything in our power to supervise and monitor the early voting system. I'd like to ask you to participate in early voting without any worries."
Kim said he plans to cast his ballot during the two-day period.
Later in the day at a campaign stop in Gongju, some 40 kilometers west of Okcheon, Kim said he will keep trying to persuade New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok to merge their candidacies for the June 3 election.
The soft deadline for the two to unify their candidacies was Sunday, when election authorities began printing ballots for the June 3 election. If Kim and Lee join forces between now and Wednesday, the eve of the start of two-day early voting, both of their names will appear on ballots on June 3. In that case, polling stations will put up a notice saying one of the candidates has resigned, but having both names still on ballots could cause confusion and produce invalid votes.
However, if Kim and Lee manage to merge their candidacies by Wednesday, ballots for the Thursday-Friday early voting will have "resigned" marked next to one of their names.
When told of the Sunday deadline, Kim said, "Since we come from the same roots, I will continue to try.
"I am pushing for plans to meet with him," Kim added. "But I am not at a point where I can tell you when and how (the merger) will happen."
Lee, former head of the PPP, has rejected overtures from the PPP to unify his candidacy with Kim's.
The PPP believes the merger will boost the conservative bloc's chance of beating the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung, whose lead in public polls has dwindled lately.
In a Realmeter survey conducted on 1,009 adults on Thursday and Friday last week, Lee Jae-myung led the way with 46.6 percent, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous poll. Kim checked in at 37.6 percent, and Lee Jun-seok earned 10.4 percent, creeping into double digits.
In a separate Facebook message, Kim also wrote that a cautious approach is needed in considering downsizing United States Forces Korea, touching on a recent Wall Street Journal report that the US administration is considering withdrawing some 4,500 troops of the 28,500-strong US forces stationed in South Korea to relocate them to other Indo-Pacific locations.
"Much caution is necessary because (relocation) could result in the reverse effects of weakening not only deterrence against North Korea but also the capacity to hold China and Russia in check," Kim said.
"I also see downsizing the USFK as a dangerous choice because it could create room for North Korea's Kim Jong-un to make a wrong decision at time when he is seeking opportunities for provocations against the South," he added.
As the news report drew concerns in South Korea, a Pentagon spokesperson has dismissed it as "not true," reaffirming that America remains "fully" committed to the defense of South Korea. (Yonhap)
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