Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate's secretary, Kim Jae-won, reacted strongly on the 9th to the party's preference survey conducted to unify candidate Kim and independent preliminary candidate Han Duck-soo, saying, "Any result will be invalid."
Kim Jae-won said in a YTN radio interview that morning, "This is a survey aimed at bringing down candidate Kim."
He added, "It is an illegal survey that is neither fair nor notified to the parties involved," saying, "Since the results of the primary were decided unilaterally by the party leadership, any outcome will be invalid."
Earlier, the People Power Party stated that it must finalize the unification by the candidate registration deadline on the 11th, and has been conducting a two-day preference survey for a unified candidate since the previous day. They are conducting party member votes and public opinion polls asking who is better among the two candidates as a unified candidate, deciding to reflect each 50% in the party member vote and the public opinion poll, just like in the second and third candidate primaries. The party member vote will close at 4 p.m., and the public opinion poll will close at 1 p.m. Observations suggest that if support for one candidate is significantly higher, the party leadership may attempt to replace the candidate based on this.
In response, candidate Kim's side is reacting strongly. Kim Jae-won remarked, "There is not a single provision in the party constitution that indicates any grounds or possibilities for candidate replacement," and dismissed it by saying, "It is not legally possible." The party leadership is citing 'Article 74(2) of the party constitution' as the basis. This provision states that when there is 'sufficient reason,' matters related to the selection of candidates may be deliberated by the Election Commission and decided by the emergency committee.
In response, Kim Jae-won claimed, "This signifies a change in procedures that must be followed in the presidential candidate selection process," asserting, "There is no basis for candidate replacement itself."
Candidate Kim's side has filed an injunction with the court to acknowledge the status of the presidential candidate against the party leadership's insistence on conducting the survey. Kim Jae-won noted, "The court communicated that if additional materials are submitted by 11 a.m. today, it will make a decision on the injunction this afternoon," adding, "I believe a ruling will be issued this afternoon."