Kim's conflict with PPP leadership

[Anchor]

Candidate Kim Moon-soo and the leadership of the People Power Party clashed more intensely.

The internal strife is becoming increasingly exposed.

Candidate Kim Moon-soo demanded that the party leadership back off, while the leadership raised their voices against their own presidential candidate, saying it is pathetic to cling to a petty position.

Reporter Park Young-min has the details.

[Report]

Early in the morning, Candidate Kim Moon-soo held a press conference.

He harshly criticized the roadmap for unification that the party leadership decided on last night (May 7) ahead of the candidate registration deadline on the 11th.

He also criticized that the discussion schedule for today (May 8) without the candidate's consent was illegal, and that a coercive unification lacks both emotion and narrative.

[Kim Moon-soo/People Power Party Presidential Candidate: "Please refrain from trying to bring down me, Kim Moon-soo, the legitimate presidential candidate, under the guise of a forced candidate unification."]

Instead, he proposed to unify after the broadcast debates and opinion polls next week.

[Kim Moon-soo/People Power Party Presidential Candidate: "For synergy and verification, let each candidate campaign for a week. If we continue like this, we are heading towards mutual destruction."]

The leadership of the People Power Party immediately expressed their refusal.

They stated that unification after the candidate registration on the 11th is not an option, and that if unification does not happen, they may have to make a decision for the sake of winning the presidential election, showing no signs of backing down.

[Kwon Young-se/People Power Party Emergency Response Committee Chairman: "I will take full responsibility as the Emergency Response Committee Chairman. If there are wrong decisions being made by the presidential candidate, they must be corrected."]

There were even emotionally charged remarks that it was Candidate Kim who called out Candidate Han.

[Kwon Seong-dong/People Power Party Floor Leader: "It is truly pathetic to cling to that petty presidential candidate position while ignoring the orders of party members."]

In response to claims from Candidate Kim's side that the party is supporting Candidate Han, they criticized it as fake news and an act of misconduct.

This is a direct confrontation with almost no precedent between a presidential candidate and the party leadership.

Amid concerns that the synergy for unification will disappear, some within the party have suggested that lawmakers defect and recruit Candidate Han from a third-party organization, then carry out an inter-party unification.

This is KBS News, Park Young-min.