Two leading candidates for the ruling People Power Party chair, Reps. Kim Gi-hyeon (left) and Ahn Cheol-soo, shake hands at a hotel in Jeju on Monday. (Yonhap)

JEJU CITY -- The ruling People Power Party candidates for the leadership role embarked on a joint tour across the country on Monday with Jeju as the first stop. With the March 8 convention less than a month away, the top contenders’ allegiance to the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is becoming a major talking point in the leadership race.

Although the presidential office has officially espoused no particular candidate, as is the norm, the candidate most widely supported by Yoon’s base is Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon. Kim has touted his loyalty to Yoon and his ability to work smoothly with the president as one of his main appeals.

Kim soon came under fire over his claim that his major rival in the race, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, was “ill-fit to lead the party” because of his “presidential ambitions.“

“I fear that the power clash may even lead to (Yoon’s) impeachment,” he said.

Speaking before a crowd of party supporters in Jeju, Kim said that, for a united party ahead of the 2024 general election, “a relationship built on trust” with the president was “of absolute importance.”

Ahn hit back saying he was “instrumental” to Yoon’s election. Ahn ran in the presidential election last year as one of the leading candidates before withdrawing to support Yoon against then-Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung.

Ahn, who has consistently sat on top of the polls, said Kim’s claims linking him to a risk of the president being impeached “extremely inappropriate and misleading.”

“I don’t think the president should be dragged into party affairs like this,” he said, calling on Kim to apologize.

On the back-and-forth, Yoon’s press office said in a message to reporters later in the afternoon, “Once again we would like to make it clear that the president would like to stay out of the party convention.”

The presidential office’s messages of disapproval surrounding the two leading contenders rivaling him -- Ahn and Na Kyung-won, the latter of whom dropped out of the race -- have not been subtle, however.

Earlier this month, an open clash unfolded between Ahn and the presidential office, which took issue with the leading candidate referring to Kim as a “key pro-Yoon figure.”

Departing from the usual practice, the tour of the party leadership contenders kicked off in Jeju, a typically Democratic Party-leaning electorate that has not elected a candidate from the conservative party for the past five general elections.

“The new party leaders, about to be elected in a few weeks, will shoulder the responsibility of leading our party to victory in the general election next year,” Rep. Chung Jin-suk, heading the emergency steering committee since September last year, told reporters.

The opposition Democratic Party, which holds the majority in the National Assembly, was “blocking the Yoon administration’s policies and initiatives and unilaterally pushing their own agenda,” he said.

Next year’s general election, he said, will be a “crucial” one that can hand the ruling party control of the legislature and allow Yoon to follow through with his pledges.

“It is hugely meaningful that Jeju is hosting the very first leg of the tour,” he said. “For the last two decades, our party has not had a lawmaker elected in Jeju, and the two cities in this island will be absolutely critical in the next election.”

North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker Rep. Tae Yong-ho pays his respects to the victims of the Jeju massacre on Monday. (courtesy of Tae office)

In Jeju, contenders paid homage to the victims of a violent crackdown on islanders who rebelled against the division of the country into North and South in the late 1940s.

Rep. Tae Yong-ho, who is vying for a seat on the supreme council, the party’s top decision-making body, visited the memorial hall honoring tens of thousands of fallen victims and offered his condolences.

“The pain of a divided country deeply resonates with me, as someone who defected from North Korea. As someone who once served in North Korea, I feel infinitely responsible for this tragedy,” he said.

At the memorial, the representatives of the association for the bereaved families of the Jeju victims asked the contenders’ “continued attention” to the massacres from more than 70 years ago. Yoon while still a candidate vowed he would help the families and survivors find justice.