SEOUL, May 11 (AJP) - In a dramatic turn just one day before official presidential campaigning begins, South Korea’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) failed in its attempt to replace its presidential nominee, Kim Moon-soo, after a party-wide vote rejected the leadership’s emergency push to install former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as the new candidate.
The internal vote, conducted via an automated response survey (ARS) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, asked all PPP members whether they supported canceling Kim’s nomination and replacing him with Han. The party announced after midnight that the proposal had been narrowly voted down.
"While we cannot disclose the exact figures, the result was a rejection of the candidate replacement motion by a narrow margin," said Shin Dong-wook, the party’s chief spokesperson.
The outcome nullifies the party leadership’s drastic actions taken the night before. Citing emergency powers under Article 74 of the party charter, the PPP’s emergency leadership committee convened in the early hours of May 10 and moved swiftly to revoke Kim’s candidacy, accept Han’s formal party membership, and open a one-hour candidate registration window between 3 and 4 a.m..
The unorthodox process triggered immediate controversy. Critics both within and outside the party accused the leadership of bypassing proper procedure and undermining internal democracy. The sequence of events, initiated after failed unification talks between Kim and Han, was seen by some as a political coup.
Kim, a former labor minister and conservative stalwart, responded defiantly, vowing to register with the National Election Commission (NEC) as PPP’s official candidate on Sunday. "Everything is back to where it should be," he said in a statement. "I will immediately launch my campaign and build a big-tent alliance to challenge Lee Jae-myung."
The failed switch also brought swift fallout. Kwon Young-se, chair of the PPP emergency committee and the architect of the replacement strategy, resigned to take responsibility for the failed maneuver. “The failure to achieve unification is my fault alone,” he said in a press conference, offering a formal apology to party members and the public.
Kwon emphasized that the leadership had acted with the intent of fielding the strongest candidate against Democratic Party frontrunner Lee Jae-myung, but ultimately failed to secure the consensus required to see the plan through.
Saturday’s vote reflected widespread concern within the party about the process. While many members agreed on the need to unite the conservative bloc, the abrupt revocation of Kim’s candidacy, done without convening the full national committee or holding open consultations, sparked backlash over procedural legitimacy.
The now-defunct plan had been the PPP’s last-minute attempt to salvage a conservative victory through consolidation. Han’s appointment had been framed as a pathway toward unity, especially after unification talks with Kim collapsed earlier in the week over the timing and method of coordination.
The situation has left lingering uncertainty and tension within the party, with many predicting a continued fallout over both the leadership’s overreach and the growing ideological rift within the conservative camp.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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