Gyeonggi Governor and presidential hopeful Kim Moon-soo on Friday threatened to boycott the Saenuri Party’s presidential nomination race, upping the ante against frontrunner Park Geun-hye in disputes over primary rules.

“I won’t participate in the primary process, if (my demand for) an open primary system is not accepted,” Kim said on a radio program. “But I won’t go as far as leaving (the party).”

He didn’t elaborate on whether he would be giving up the presidential bid altogether. 

The governor is considered an underdog in the conservative ruling party’s nomination race. Park, the party’s chief until May, holds a formidable lead in the polls.

Forming an anti-Park alliance with other candidates Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jae-oh, Kim has been demanding that the party adopt an open primary system to invite ordinary voters, regardless of their party affiliation, to select who should represent the Saenuri at the polls in December.

Under the party’s current rules, a presidential standard-bearer is to be decided 50 percent by party members and 50 percent by non-members. The trio claims the present system would do little more than endorse Rep. Park, who has a tight grip on the party, and thus fail to attract voter interest.

“Rep. Park, blinded by her current lead in polls, is making the wrong assessment of the situation,” Kim said. Park opposes any change to the primary system.

For Saenuri to retain the presidency from surging liberals, the party should turn its nomination race into an open and exciting event, he explained.

He also hinted at the possibility of a joint boycott by Reps. Chung and Lee.

“I didn’t directly speak with them on this but believe that we all think alike,” he said.

Amid the escalating row, the Saenuri leadership, dominated by pro-Park members, pressed ahead to prepare for the presidential nomination process, while its chairman Hwang Woo-yea struggled to narrow the gap amongst potential contenders.

“We can’t spend too much time on this,” Rep. Hwang said in a forum Friday, adding that the quarrel over the open primary should come to an end in the near future.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)