South Korea: PPP candidate, party's interim leader clash again on candidacy merger

IANS May 9, 2025 317 views

The South Korean political landscape is heating up as PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo openly challenges his party's leadership over a proposed campaign merger. Kim views the merger attempt as a strategic move to sideline him, while party interim leader Kwon Young-se argues that true leadership requires personal sacrifice. The dispute highlights deep internal divisions within the conservative party with the June 3 election rapidly approaching. These tensions could potentially weaken the PPP's chances against the leading Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung.

"The forced merger pushed by the party leadership is nothing more than an attempt to remove me" - Kim Moon-soo
Seoul, May 9: South Korean People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and the party's interim leader clashed again Friday on a move to merge campaigns with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, marking the latest showdown within the conservative party ahead of the June 3 vote.

Key Points

1

PPP leadership pressures Kim to merge with Han Duck-soo's campaign

2

Tensions escalate within conservative party ranks

3

Election just 25 days away

4

Candidates clash over unification strategy

The clash between Kim and the PPP's interim leader, Kwon Young-se, came shortly before the conservative party was set to unveil its result of two-day opinion polls about favorable ratings between Kim and Han, Yonhap news agency reported.

"The forced merger pushed by the party leadership is nothing more than an attempt to remove me and make an independent candidate the party's presidential nominee," Kim told a meeting with PPP lawmakers. "I cannot accept this."

It was the first time that Kim attended such a meeting since he won the party's nomination earlier this month.

In response, Kwon expressed disappointment over Kim's remarks, saying a "true leader, especially one aspiring to become a great leader, must be willing to sacrifice his personal interests."

The polls came as Kim, former labor minister, has demanded the PPP's leadership stop forcing him to unify his candidacy with Han, an independent preliminary presidential candidate, demonstrating a growing rift within the conservative party with the presidential election just 25 days away.

Kim and Han held their second round of talks Thursday to try to unify their candidacies, but the talks ended without an agreement.

The June 3 presidential election is being held to pick a successor to ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, with the PPP still divided over its stance about Yoon's ouster.

The opinion polls will be based on a combination of 50 per cent party member votes and 50 per cent public opinion polling.

Amid ongoing tensions, Kim canceled his campaign stops in the southeastern cities of Daegu and Busan, and is likely to focus on response measures to the PPP leadership and Han's push for the merger.

Since being selected as the presidential candidate, Kim has been at odds with the party leadership, which has been pushing him to unify his campaign with Han.

Han has insisted that the merger be finalised by May 11 to ensure that one of them can run as the PPP candidate without dividing the conservative votes to better counter Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who is leading opinion polls.

Han said he will not register for the presidential race if there is no agreement with the PPP on unifying candidacies.

Kim, however, proposed that he and Han each campaign for a week, before holding a televised debate and public opinion polls to decide on the candidacy next week.

Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
Interesting to see political drama unfold in South Korea! Reminds me of our own coalition politics. The PPP leadership seems to be making the same mistake as some Indian parties - forcing unity creates more division. Let democracy decide!
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Priya M.
South Korea's political stability matters for Asia's economy. Hope they resolve this quickly - we have enough business ties with Korean companies. Samsung and Hyundai investments in India shouldn't be affected by this turmoil 🤞
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Amit S.
Kim Moon-soo is right to stand his ground. If he won the nomination fairly, why should he merge? This reminds me of how regional parties in India sometimes try to override primary results. Democracy must respect internal party processes first.
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Neha V.
As an observer, both sides have valid points. Unity is important to defeat the opposition, but forced mergers never work. Look at what happened in West Bengal elections last year! Maybe they should follow the BJP model of strong leadership with grassroots support.
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Sanjay T.
The 50-50 voting system (members + public) is quite balanced. We should learn from this for our internal party elections. Too much reliance on either grassroots or surveys creates imbalance. Good political lesson for Indian parties here!
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Meena R.
While this is interesting, I hope Indian media gives more coverage to our neighboring countries' politics too. We know more about Western elections than about Nepal or Sri Lanka's developments. South Korea at least gets some attention because of K-pop! 😅

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Tags:
South Korea Presidential Election Kim Moon-soo Han Duck-soo People Power Party Political Conflict