SEOUL, May 02 (AJP) - Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s presidential bid is prompting a strategic rethink across South Korea’s conservative bloc, as leaders weigh the risks and rewards of unifying behind a single candidate before official registration begins next week.
The 75-year-old former Prime Minister formally declared his candidacy on Friday, offering a transitional vision centered on constitutional reform. “I will form a presidential task force on constitutional reform on day one,” he said at the National Assembly. “In my third year, I will hold a new presidential and general election under the revised constitution, and immediately resign from office.”
His entry into the race comes at a moment of political volatility. President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached earlier this year after declaring martial law without notice last December. Han, who had been acting president, resigned on Thursday to run. His expected successor, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, also stepped down after facing an impeachment motion. Education Minister Lee Ju-ho took over as acting president on May 2.
Now, with just days until candidate registration on May 10 and 11, the People Power Party (PPP) must quickly decide how to respond. A party convention on May 3 will determine whether former labor minister Kim Moon-soo or former justice minister Han Dong-hoon becomes the party’s official nominee, an outcome that could define the course of any conservative consolidation effort.
Kim has openly supported unification talks with Han Duck-soo. He has proposed holding a debate and conducting public polling as a mechanism to select a single candidate, and said he would seek a meeting with Han if nominated. “If I become the official PPP candidate, I’ll offer a more responsible position,” Kim said Friday. “We’ll be in touch.”
Han Dong-hoon, meanwhile, struck a sharply different tone. Speaking to reporters at Masan Fish Market in the southern port city of Changwon on Friday, the former justice minister dismissed Han Duck-soo’s chances of defeating Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung. “In this do-or-die dog fight, he is not the one who can beat Lee,” he said.
Han went on to say, “This is likely to turn into a mud fight. I don’t welcome that, but conservative politics should carry a sense of dignity. To me, dignity means stepping into the mud on behalf of the people and fighting injustice without letting the public get splashed.” He added, “Others may find that difficult. I’ll be the one to fight and win.”
Despite the differences, party leaders remain keen to wrap up any unification process quickly. “As soon as registration ends, the campaign starts,” a senior PPP official told reporters Friday. “Voters need to know who our candidate is.”
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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