Former Busan mayoral candidate Jeong I-han of the Reform Party, who was arrested on suspicion of staging an attack on himself, is said to have met with People Power Party Busan mayoral candidate Park Heong-joon's camp to discuss a single candidacy the day before confessing the crime to police.
According to a Yonhap News report on the 14th, the former candidate began a hunger strike on May 8 after being excluded from a televised Busan mayoral debate.
On May 11, Park visited the protest site to console the former candidate at the arrangement of A, a Busan city council member with the People Power Party who is close to the former candidate. Park returned to the site again on the 14th, three days later.
At the time, Park's side proposed, "If Candidate Jeong cannot take part in the TV debate, we can at least hold a debate on a YouTube channel." The former candidate ended the hunger strike on the seventh day of the protest.
Talks on a single candidacy took shape three days later. On May 17, the former candidate had lunch at a hotel in downtown Busan with A and B, a key figure in Park's campaign.
At the meeting, the former candidate was quoted as saying, "If we lose the election due to a split in the conservative camp, there will inevitably be political fallout, so I am thinking of withdrawing. I hope Park does well."
B was said to have proposed a policy alliance, saying, "We will do our best to create space to incorporate the Reform Party's solid policies into city administration."
In response, the former candidate was quoted as saying, "When the election is over, I will leave politics. I'm thinking of going to China to help with my father's business."
However, on May 18, the day after the meeting, the former candidate confessed to police that the attack case had been staged. Police booked the former candidate on the 19th.
Afterward, the former candidate said a "swift news conference would be held the next day," but abruptly canceled it. After going off the grid for a while, the former candidate resumed campaigning.
At the time, the former candidate was said to have explained to B, "The party opposed it, so I could not withdraw my candidacy."
At the end of May, B met Cheon Ha-ram, floor leader of the Reform Party, who came to Busan to stump, and discussed the former candidate's withdrawal. Cheon was said to have conveyed opposition to the withdrawal, saying, "Jeong is the Busan mayoral candidate, and if the candidate quits now, the party will be in trouble."
B said, "At the time I felt regret and pity, but in hindsight it is a great relief that a single candidacy did not come together," adding, "I was taken aback when I heard after the election that the attack on the former candidate had been staged."