The conservative candidacy merger between Kim Moon-soo and Han Duck-soo has sparked a crisis inside South Korea’s ruling party. On Tuesday, Kim abruptly suspended his campaign in protest against the People Power Party leadership. He accused party officials of sidelining him and ignoring his role as the official nominee. The party had reportedly pressured him to step aside in favour of Han by May 11. That date marks the final deadline to register candidates for the June election.
Kim won the party’s nomination only days ago, yet tensions erupted quickly after former Prime Minister Han entered the race. Han resigned from his interim roles and declared his independent candidacy late last week. Since then, senior party figures have pushed Kim to merge his campaign with Han’s. However, Kim claimed the leadership unilaterally set the merger timeline without his consent. His decision to pause campaign activities has deepened internal fractures within the party.
During a press briefing in Gyeongju, Kim declared that he would cease all campaign efforts immediately. He accused party leaders of making backroom decisions and refusing to support him publicly. According to Kim, the conservative candidacy merger discussions have excluded his views at every stage. He also stated that the party failed to form a proper election management team around him. Moreover, he said they built a unification committee without his input as the nominated candidate.
The leadership responded forcefully, with interim chief Kwon Young-se warning that Kim’s defiance risks “betraying the people.” Kwon pledged to resign if the merger fails, intensifying pressure on Kim to comply. Meanwhile, Han endorsed the leadership’s strategy during a morning panel hosted by the Kwanhun Club. Han said a failure to unify candidates would amount to breaking faith with the public. His campaign spokesperson Lee Jung-hyun repeated calls to finalise the conservative candidacy merger by May 11.
Kim’s camp has remained defiant, even amid poll numbers showing Han outperforming him in head-to-head comparisons. A Realmeter poll from last week showed Han with 34.3 percent, while Kim trailed with only 27.8 percent. Both fell short of Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who remains the overall frontrunner. Despite that, Kim’s allies argue that the party should respect the primary outcome. Deputy spokesperson Choi In-ho said the conservative candidacy merger must revolve around Kim’s legitimacy as the nominee.
