People Power Party scrambles to heal rift after candidate shake-up backfires

The conservative People Power Party is scrambling to heal internal rifts and rebuild unity while containing the fallout from a botched leadership attempt to replace its presidential candidate — a move that failed to secure majority support in a vote of all members.

Former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo said Sunday, “Now is the time to embrace past wounds, come together and move forward toward the future,” after his status as the party’s official presidential candidate — chosen through its primary — was reinstated less than 24 hours after the party leadership nullified it.

With just 23 days remaining until the presidential election as of Sunday, the official campaign is set to kick off Monday, with polls continuing to show rival liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung leading by a wide margin of around 20 percentage points.

“Starting today, we stand united as one team,” Kim underscored during the party’s general meeting at the National Assembly. “In the course of a primary, disagreements may arise, and sometimes words or actions can leave behind wounds.”

The party’s election committee abruptly revoked Kim’s candidacy at 3 a.m. Saturday, effectively replacing him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as the party’s presidential candidate for the June 3 early election before the deadline for candidate registration at 6 p.m. Sunday.

But the party reversed course later that night, just before midnight, after a majority of party members rejected the leadership’s decision in an automated telephone poll.

During Sunday's general meeting, floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong emphasized that “We must put all past twists and turns behind us, rally tightly around candidate Kim, and dedicate ourselves to winning back the presidency.”

The past week was marked by simmering tensions between Kim and the People Power Party leadership, who aimed to field a single candidate by Sunday at the latest. This included a public clash between Kim and party leaders during a general meeting on May 9. Kim and Han failed to bridge their differences during a Friday night working-level meeting.

Rep. Seo Ji-young, the party's floor spokesperson, said that Kim opposed changing the party’s floor leader, speaking to reporters after the general meeting.

"Candidate Kim spoke to the effect that electing a new floor leader during the presidential race would be inappropriate and that the current floor leader should play a role in ensuring the campaign can be pursued with full commitment," Seo said.

Calls for unity continued at the party’s central election committee meeting, held after the general meeting. During the session, Rep. Na Kyung-won said, “Together with candidate Kim Moon-soo, we must all unite and campaign without resistance.”

Kim also sought to heal internal divisions by meeting with Han on Sunday morning after officially registering his candidacy, offering him the role of campaign chair.

Although Han has not yet provided a definitive answer to the proposal, he emphasized Sunday that he will do what he can to support Kim’s victory in the upcoming presidential election.

The party’s bid to patch up the conflict came amid calls for the floor leader’s resignation and increasingly visible factional feuds between lawmakers aligned with disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol and those in the non-Yoon faction — essentially, supporters and opponents of Han Duck-soo’s presidential candidacy.

Rep. Kwon Young-se immediately stepped down as the emergency committee chief on Saturday night, taking responsibility for the abortive attempt to field a single candidate.

The party's 16 lawmakers — mostly aligned with former party leader Han Dong-hoon — issued a statement on Saturday night, saying that Kwon Young-se’s resignation was "not sufficient to take full responsibility.”

“We call for the collective resignation of Kweon Seong-dong and the party floor leadership, who have been deeply involved in this incident,” the joint statement read.

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo also said Sunday that Reps. “Kwon Young-se, Kweon Seong-dong, Park Soo-young and Sung Il-jong should take responsibility for throwing the presidential primary into disarray by resigning their seats in the National Assembly and retiring from politics altogether."

The party’s other primary contenders, Han Dong-hoon and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, also unleashed scathing criticism of the party leadership's attempt to override Kim’s nomination with Han Duck-soo, labeling it a "coup."

"We can root out the pro-Yoon faction’s old-school politics and rebuild the party into a truly rational and conservative one — just as the coup attempt within the party, led by the pro-Yoon faction, was blocked yesterday," Han Dong-hoon wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning.

In another post later that day, Han added, “For the People Power Party to rise again, those responsible for the coup attempt by the pro-Yoon faction must be held fully accountable.”