Speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly, PPP emergency committee chair Kwon Young-se told the leadership made a “painful but necessary decision” under Article 74-2 of the party constitution, comparing the action to the historical Confucian concept of "Eupchammasok"—a righteous but difficult sacrifice of one’s own ally for the greater good.
“More than 80 percent of our members wanted unification before the candidate registration deadline,” Kwon said. “They demanded that we field a single, competitive nominee under the PPP banner to defeat Lee Jae-myung and prevent authoritarian rule.”
The candidate switch comes after the collapse of unification talks between Kim and the former prime minister. While the PPP leadership insisted that consolidation be completed by the May 11 registration deadline, Kim argued for a public poll scheduled on May 15–16 to determine a unified nominee. As tensions escalated, the party opened a one-hour overnight registration window on May 10, removing Kim and registering Han instead.
According to Kwon, the decision was driven by the party’s responsibility to act when unification negotiations failed. “This was not about serving any one faction. It was the last and only hope to win this election,” he said.
He also criticized Kim for prolonging the process and undermining internal trust. “For Kim Moon-soo, unification became a tactic to secure the nomination, not a sincere effort to align behind a stronger candidate,” Kwon said, accusing Kim of “spreading falsehoods, attacking the party, and turning supporters against its leadership.”
Despite the move, the party emphasized that the switch is not final. The PPP is holding a full-member vote through 9 p.m. on May 10 to determine whether Han should officially become the nominee. A national committee vote on May 11 will follow. If less than half of respondents support the change, the party will reinstate Kim as its candidate.
Kim Moon-soo, however, has rejected the leadership’s actions as illegitimate. In a morning press conference held at 9:50 a.m., Kim called the overnight registration process a “political coup” and vowed to pursue legal and political action. “Democracy in our party died last night,” he said. “This was an unconstitutional and illegal purge of a rightfully elected candidate.”
Kim also filed an injunction with the Seoul Southern District Court to suspend the party’s decision, just hours after an earlier court rejected a similar request to block the party’s emergency proceedings.
As the PPP awaits the outcome of its internal vote and prepares for possible legal fallout, the party now faces the prospect of a deepening internal rift just weeks before the June 3 presidential election.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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