People Power Party Chairperson Kwon Young-se on the 8th countered the claim made by the campaign of presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo that there is a force behind the candidacy of independent preliminary candidate Han Duck-soo, saying, "It was precisely candidate Kim who brought Han out." He added, "If promises change, political trust and the honor of leaders will inevitably collapse," and reiterated his call for negotiations on the 'unification before the candidate registration deadline on the 11th.
That afternoon, Chairperson Kwon held an urgent press conference related to unification at the National Assembly and denounced the situations during an approximately 15-minute opening statement.
In particular, Chairperson Kwon dismissed the so-called 'backstory' raised by candidate Kim's camp. He stated, "Although I think it is only a small part of candidate Kim's camp, they are spreading fake news that implies the party leadership, including myself, is 'pushing Han from the beginning' and 'colluding with certain forces.' The issue of unification with candidate Han was raised by himself. It was not other people who brought candidate Han out, but it was exactly candidate Kim."
He noted, "When candidate Han did not register as a candidate in our party's primary, I thought the so-called Han Duck-soo card was no longer usable. However, during the primary process, candidate Kim consistently and strongly asserted the unification between Kim and candidate Han from the outset. Discussions of Kim Duck-soo and Eulji Mundeok also emerged."
He continued, "At the end of the primary, I was prepared for unification with candidate Han, but initially, there was no preparation at all," and stated that "the repeated dissemination of fake news by candidate Kim's side raises suspicions of inciting conflict."
Earlier, candidate Kim responded to a question during a discussion hosted by the Kwanhun Club, asking, 'Do you think someone planned to run candidate Han?' by saying, "I see it that way."