South Korea’s presidential race in chaos amid conservative clash, liberal legal battles

Conservatives are fighting among themselves over which candidate to field, while the liberal front-runner faces legal challenges

South Korea’s presidential race is growing increasingly chaotic, fuelled by infighting within the conservative camp and persistent legal troubles facing the progressive front-runner.

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) last week nominated former labour minister Kim Moon-soo as its candidate for the June 3 snap presidential election.

The vote was triggered by the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, who had won the 2022 election on the PPP ticket.

Kim, who was governor of Gyeonggi province from 2010 to 2014, had long been outside PPP’s political corridors of power and on the fringe of its ideological spectrum. But he gained traction among conservative voters after emerging as the only cabinet member to openly defend Yoon’s failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3.

His victory over runner-up Han Dong-hoon – a former PPP leader and justice minister who fell out with Yoon amid scandals involving former first lady Kim Keon-hee – was facilitated by his promise to allow a possible run-off to select between himself and former acting president Han Duck-soo.

The idea was to field a unified conservative candidate to challenge liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung.

However, after securing the PPP nomination, Kim hardened his stance, insisting that he remained the sole conservative candidate.

Kim’s top aide, Kim Jae-won, summed up the position bluntly on Monday, telling reporters: “There won’t be Han’s name on the ballot.” Speaking on an SBS radio talk show, he added of Han Duck-soo: “He hasn’t paid a single 1,000 won [72 US cents] in PPP membership dues.”

Kim’s camp has also made clear that the PPP’s election team should prioritise consolidating support behind him, with himself leading the PPP’s candidacy merger effort.

On Tuesday, Kim directly criticised the party leadership, saying, “Although they promised active support for the candidate, they continue to operate the party unilaterally without involving the candidate, effectively showing that they do not recognise me as the official presidential candidate of the party.”

This stance has infuriated PPP’s pro-Yoon leadership, who are pressing Kim to honour his earlier promise of a “fair and swift” run-off with Han.

Han, a former prime minister who served as acting president after Yoon’s impeachment, has since entered the race as an independent.

On Monday, Han accused Kim of avoiding a meeting to delay the unification process, warning that a split in conservative votes could be disastrous.

Lacking the financial and organisational resources for a full campaign, Han is depending on PPP support to carry the conservative banner. Time is apparently on Kim’s side as Han may be forced to withdraw without PPP’s support.

PPP acting head Kwon Young-se publicly urged Kim to take the first step towards compromise. “Show your willingness to sacrifice yourself first,” he said.

“Now is the time for courage – to put everything aside and think only of the future of the party, the country and our people.”

Kwon and other senior party figures are believed to favour Han over Kim.

Han, a seasoned administrator, enjoys broader voter support than Kim, whose rhetoric largely echoes far-right extremist views.

A Realmeter poll released on Monday showed Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leading both conservatives in a three-way race.

Lee polled at 46.5 per cent against Han’s 34.3 per cent and 46.6 per cent against Kim’s 27.8 per cent.

‘Civil war’ and deepened rifts

Senior PPP lawmakers also demanded that Kim move quickly, emphasising the need for a unified candidate before the May 11 candidacy registration deadline.

“If this deadline is missed, prolonged negotiations until ballot printing begins on May 25 will only alienate the public,” one of them said.

Choi Jin, head of the Institute of Presidential Leadership think tank, said the PPP was in a “civil war” over its nominee.

“Although their support bases overlap, Kim Moon-soo is backed by far-right activists, while Han Duck-soo has the support of pro-Yoon factions within the party,” Choi told This Week in Asia.

“Regardless of who wins the election, South Korea’s political rifts will only deepen as long as both major parties treat each other as existential threats rather than political rivals,” he said. “Intra-party tolerance and forbearance have long disappeared.”

Meanwhile, the DPK criticised the conservative unification efforts, accusing Kim’s “far-right forces” and Han’s “insurrectionists” of conspiring to return to power and shield Yoon from prosecution.

“If they seize power through this alliance, they will surely exonerate Yoon,” DPK spokeswoman Park Kyung-mi said on Monday.

Yoon was released from detention on March 8 after the Seoul Central District Court overturned his arrest on technical grounds.

The prosecution declined to appeal, prompting public backlash.

Criticism of the judiciary intensified when the Supreme Court, whose 12-member bench is dominated by Yoon-appointed justices, overturned an appeal court acquittal of Lee over a campaign-period misstatement and ordered a retrial, potentially endangering Lee’s candidacy.

Lee lost to Yoon with a razor-thin margin in the 2022 presidential election.

The speed of the Supreme Court’s decision sparked allegations that it had failed to guarantee enough time for Lee to prepare for his defence.

“The Supreme Court is engaging in unprecedented actions, sparking suspicions [about its motives] among many legal experts,” Yi Zoon-il, a professor at Korea University Law School, said on MBC TV on Tuesday.

The DKP accuses the judiciary establishment of seeking to deprive Lee of his chance to run in the presidential race, allegations flatly denied by the Supreme Court, which defended its move as normal and legitimate.

Apparently acting on the Supreme Court’s cue, the appeal court promptly assigned a panel and scheduled the first retrial hearing for May 15.

Legal experts note that under standard procedures, a final verdict in Lee’s case is unlikely before the June 3 election.

Should Lee win, ongoing legal proceedings would be suspended under the constitution.

Still, the Supreme Court’s accelerated timeline has raised fears of politically motivated intervention.

In response, the DPK called for the appeal court to delay the hearing, arguing that presidential hopefuls deserve fair campaigning conditions.

Otherwise, the party warned that it may pursue impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, whom it accused of spearheading efforts to derail Lee’s candidacy.

“Yoon Suk-yeol’s insurrectionist forces are colluding with elements of the judicial cartel in an attempt to politically destroy the leading presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung,” DPK acting leader Park Chan-dae told reporters on Monday.

“The Democratic Party of Korea will use every possible means to stop this judicial coup and the rampaging remnants of insurrection,” he declared.