SEOUL: South Korea’s former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Tuesday (May 6) he saw no alternative other than teaming up with the presidential candidate of the ruling conservative People Power Party to contest the country’s snap election on Jun 3.
Han emphasised the need to run on a unity ticket when asked whether he would run separately from former labour minister Kim Moon-soo, who was picked by the PPP as its candidate earlier this month.
“I’ve never thought that unification would fail because that would be a great betrayal of the people,” he said at a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a grouping of senior journalists.
Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party, remains a clear frontrunner in the election, piling pressure on conservatives to put forward one candidate to avoid splitting the vote.
Lee, the liberal candidate, had nearly 50 per cent support, according to a survey by the JoongAng Ilbo daily published on Tuesday.
The survey put Kim on 33 per cent if he became the candidate on a unity ticket, while Han was on 36 per cent if he ran as the candidate in a three-way contest with Lee and Lee Jun-seok, the minor opposition New Reform Party’s candidate.
Kim criticised his own party in a Facebook post on Tuesday, saying he was not included in the process of running a joint candidacy.
