PPP PRESIDENTIAL RACE HEATS UP

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The main opposition People Power Party will select its presidential candidate next Friday. With the party’s primary race entering the final stage, PPP presidential candidates are striving hard to win greater supporter from party members.

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Having brought in eight former and incumbent lawmakers, Yoon Seok-youl's next step was to team up with Rep. Ha Tae-keung who was a competitor in the first round of the People Power Party’s presidential primary. While appearing to be alerted by Yoon’s move to expand his influence in the party, Hong Joon-pyo tried to hold the front-runner in check.

[Soundbite] Hong Joon-pyo(PPP Presidential Candidate) : "Do party members not understand that a party loses the presidential election and can't take power when it goes against public opinion?"

In response, Yoon also made a counterattack.

[Soundbite] Yoon Seok-youl(PPP Presidential Candidate) : "The politicians are all colleagues, although they support and belong to other factions. Is it appropriate to speak of them in this way?"

With the final primary vote four days away, the two leading candidates are known to be running neck and neck in polls. This is why they are focusing on winning more party members who account for another 50 percent of the primary voting. Yoon is working to solidify his presence in the party by bringing in more lawmakers, while Hong is appealing to party members, saying that he is ahead of Yoon in local surveys. PPP presidential contenders made harsh, ruthless attacks against each other in debates. One of the key issues was the allegations that Yoon Seok-youl had instructed the main opposition party to file complaints against pro-ruling party figures while serving as Prosecutor General. Yoon insisted that an ongoing investigation into the accusations is political maneuvering.

[Soundbite] Yoon Seok-youl(PPP Presidential Candidate) : "The head of the ruling party is pressuring the Corruption Investigation Office to arrest me. Isn’t this an instruction to issue an arrest warrant for me?"

[Soundbite] Hong Joon-pyo(PPP Presidential Candidate) : "When you were conducting an investigation, you said it was a lawful probe. But when you are being investigated, you call it political maneuvering."

[Soundbite] Won Hee-ryong(PPP Presidential Candidate) : "As you are at the center of the controversy, don’t ask me about that."

Yoo Seong-min took issue with the recent meeting between President Moon Jae-in and the ruling party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.

[Soundbite] Yoo Seong-min(PPP Presidential Candidate) : "It looks as if the ruling party is determined to cover up the allegations and exempt him from a special prosecutor’s probe and a parliamentary investigation, with police and prosecutors just pretending to look into it."

The main opposition party will hold two more rounds of debates and begin taking votes to select the presidential candidate next week.