South Korean presidential election: Can conservatives unify their candidate?

On the 2nd of this month, conservative former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo (75) announced his candidacy for the South Korean presidential election, which will be held on the 3rd of next month. In addition, on the following day, the conservative ruling party People Power Party announced the candidacy of former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo.
As for the presidential election, various opinion polls have shown that Lee Jae-myung, the official candidate of the largest left-wing opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, is the most suitable person to be the next president.
In order to counter Lee, the current independent Prime Minister Han and Kim are expected to accelerate efforts to unite into a single conservative candidate, which is garnering attention.
South Korea will hold a presidential election on June 3rd following the impeachment of former President Yoon Seok-yeol last month.
Following Yoon's impeachment, Han, who had been acting as president, held a press conference on the 2nd to announce his candidacy.
"We have reached dangerous waters with political infighting that pursues personal and political interests instead of a bright future for all," he said, urging, "We must not allow the country we worked so hard to build to crumble from its foundations due to irresponsible political infighting."
"I have lived my life as a proud public servant of the Korean people, at the forefront of economic development. My conscience and common sense could not accept the reality that even trade and diplomacy, which is the forefront of the national interest, has been turned into a political issue," he said.
He spoke about his reasons for running. Mr. Han is a former member of Jeonju City in the southwest of the country. He graduated from the Department of Economics at Seoul University and completed his doctorate in economics at Harvard University Graduate School. He has held positions at the Korea Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (currently the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy).
He served as vice minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) under the Kim Dae-jung administration and as deputy economic minister under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
He served as prime minister and prime minister, and led the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) negotiations. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, he served as South Korea's ambassador to the US for three years from February 2009.
He served as the chairman of the Korea International Trade Association for three years from February 2012. He also served as prime minister in the Yoon administration, and when Yoon, who declared emergency martial law in December last year, was impeached by the National Assembly, he was the prime minister.
However, Han was later impeached for aiding and abetting the declaration of emergency martial law. However, the Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment charges against Han in March.
Ng returned to the position of acting president. At the time, Han said, "I am grateful for the Constitutional Court's wise decision," and in a speech to the nation, said, "I hope to be able to resolve major national issues with stability and speed, which require bipartisan cooperation."
"I will do everything in my power to make sure that the election proceeds with a sense of purpose," he said. Han, who announced his candidacy for the presidential election on the 2nd of this month, explained the reason for his resignation as acting president and prime minister the day before.
"I have decided to step down from my position to do what I can and what must be done to overcome the crisis we face," he explained in a speech to the nation.
Han pledged to amend the constitution, resolve trade issues, and unite the nation, and said, "I will do my best to ensure that the people's choice is made through the presidential election." The constitutional amendment is scheduled to be completed within the second year of his term.
He said he would hold general and presidential elections in his third year and then step down immediately. The normal term for a South Korean president is five years. Meanwhile, the ruling People Power Party announced on the 3rd that former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo would be its official candidate.
Kim was selected as the nominee in the runoff election, beating out former party chairman Han Dong-hoon. South Korea's public broadcaster KBS said of the results, "(Kim) has been a vocal supporter of the impeachment of former President Yoon Seok-yeol.
"He is a person who has consistently taken an opposing stance, and is believed to have garnered support from hardline conservative voters," he said. Kim is from Gyeongsangnam-do, a traditional conservative stronghold in the southeast.
He participated in the labor movement and democratization movement in the 1970s and 1980s. He served as a member of the National Assembly for three terms from 1996 to 2006, and as governor of Gyeonggi Province near Seoul for two terms from 2006 to 2014.
He was appointed Minister of Employment and Labor in the Yoon administration. However, he has also caused controversy with his extreme remarks.
The candidate, former Chairman Lee Jae-myung, is leading the party with an approval rating of around 40% in various opinion polls. The conservative People's Power Party believes it is essential to unify its list of conservative candidates to counter Lee.
As mentioned above, Han has declared his candidacy among the conservatives. Kim has stated that he will join forces with all forces to prevent Lee from becoming president, and the news agency Yonhap News Agency has reported that "Han
Han has experience as prime minister in both conservative and liberal administrations, and there are hopes that he can attract not only conservative voters but also centrists, so he is gaining support from within the People Power Party.
There are voices calling for the position to be unified under Mr. Ng.