The future of Yoo Seong-min as the Bareun Party presidential candidate appears uncertain as disgruntled party members reportedly call for his resignation.

The conservative party is said to be considering calling a general meeting on Monday, following a request from 16 of its 33 lawmakers on Friday.

Although the agenda for the meeting has not been disclosed, a demand for Yoo’s resignation and a possible alliance with other parties are likely to be discussed. 

While dissent within the party is only now reaching boiling point, Yoo’s campaign has been in doubt from the beginning.

With Yoo’s approval rating hovering around 3 percent, doubt about his viability as a candidate has been growing from within the party adding credibility to talks of a possible alliance with other parties.

For his part, Yoo has stated repeatedly that he will see his campaign through, and that any demands for his resignation was an attack against the democratic process through which he was named his party’s candidate. Regardless of Yoo’s position, undermining his campaign has been one of his conservative rival’s main strategies.

Hong Joon-pyo of Liberty Korea Party has called on the Bareun Party to “come home” on numerous occasions. Hong has also appealed to Yoo to direct his attacks against Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying that Moon was the “main enemy” in televised debates.

“Candidate number two (Hong) is the only rightwing (candidate), number four (Yoo) is not worth considering. (Bareun Party) is a traitors’ party,” Hong said in a recent rally in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

Bareun Party and Liberty Korea Party are splinter groups from the Saenuri Party which were founded after the scandal surrounding former President Park Geun-hye broke. Bareun Party consists mainly of lawmakers with little ties to Park, and has been branded a traitor party by pro-Park lawmakers and voters.

In addition, pundits have voiced the possibility of an alliance with Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party in a so-called “anti-Moon” move. The so-called anti-Moon alliance refers to the possibility of rightwing and conservative parties forming a united front to counter frontrunner Moon. Moon has consistently taken the lead in polls from early on, and some recent surveys have shown him to have increased the lead on his closest rival Ahn by up to 10 percentage points.

Ahn, for now, appears set on going it alone.

“(A possible alliance) I have heard nothing, and discussed nothing. It’s for them (conservative candidates) to consider and decide. If I take power there will be a big bang, the number of seats each party has will mean nothing,” Ahn said at a seminar on Friday.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)