DP's primary nearing end while PPP contestants open to merging with Acting President Han

On the political front here.

Partisan primaries are gaining greater momentum with expectations for the final candidates representing the two main rival parties to be named within the next week.

I have our correspondent Kim Do-yeon live on the line with more.

Do-yeon welcome back.

What's the latest at the Democratic Party?

Suh-hee, the Democratic Party of Korea's primary is nearing its end and the last debate before the DP's candidate is finalized will be live at 10 PM tonight.

Utilizing the 90-minute debate, the three candidates will debate over various issues.

During the day the candidates kept themselves busy with campaign work.

Front-runner Lee Jae-myung was in Jeollanam-do Province to boost his support in the party's stronghold with the region's voting still open.

Lee met with people in agriculture businesses and pledged to make the nation's agro industry globally strong.

Both Kim Kyung-soo and Kim Dong-yeon joined the celebration for the 7th anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration earlier in the afternoon at the National Assembly Library.

The DP electors' voting for the Jeolla-do provinces will close on Saturday, while the capital, Gangwon-do Province, and Jeju will close on Sunday which is also when the convention will be held to name the primary's winner and officially kick off the presidential campaign for the party.

And what about the People Power Party?

I hear the verbal battles are still on?

That's right, Sun-hee. Today's one-on-one debates featured Han Dong-hoon and Hong Joon-pyo, who chose each other as partners. It began at 4 PM and runs until 7.

The two are clashing over how they view former President Yoon's declaration of martial law and over who is more competitive against DP's likely candidate Lee Jae-myung.

Meanwhile, speculation grows over whether Acting President Han Duck-soo will join the race.

All four PPP primary candidates—including Ahn Cheol-soo, who joined this morning—have now pledged to merge their campaigns with the acting president's if he runs.

Initially, only Kim Moon-soo supported the idea, even welcoming the idea of the acting president running.

The remaining three were not in favor of him running, but now they say they'll unite their camps if he does.

Some PPP supporters are also in favor, although the acting president himself remains silent on the matter.

The primary will be decided 50-50 between PPP electors and an open survey, increasing the weight of party members' votes.

That's all for now reporting live from the National Assembly, this is Kim Do-yeon.