PPP's interim-chair calls DP's convention "coronation," amid PPP's fierce 4-way battle

The People Power Party for its part is in the process of electing its contender with a name to be announced as early as this coming Tuesday or on Saturday at the latest.

Kim Do-yeon covers this partisan primary as well as the party's criticism of its rival.

The People Power Party took shots at its rival the Democratic Party of Korea on Monday, saying that its convention, where the party announced its presidential candidate, was nothing more than a coronation ceremony.

"It was virtually a coronation for Lee Jae-myung, proving that the Democratic Party has become a one-man dictatorship under his leadership, with an overwhelming 89.77% of the vote. Some even said it already felt like a Democratic Party government would be in place in just 40 days."

The comments came as the PPP's second round of voting by eligible PPP members continues throughout Monday until 10 PM.

For this round, the final vote will be calculated by amalgamating 50-percent of this vote with 50-percent from an open public survey.

The results of the voting will be announced on Tuesday, and if no one receives more than 50 percent of the final tally, there will be a run-off between the top two contenders, with the final results coming on May 3rd during the PPP's convention.

The four contestants, Kim Moon-soo, Ahn Cheol-soo, Hong Joon-pyo and Han Dong-hoon, continued to promote their candidacy.

Kim focused on media interviews and kept an "on-air campaign" doing 3 live interviews and a press briefing in one day.

Ahn visited the Daejeon National Cemetery, before announcing his pledges for the Chungcheong-do provinces.

Han visited the Hyeonchungsa Shrine in Asan City.

As it's a place to honor the famous Admiral Yi Sun-shin, Han revealed his military and security pledges there.

Hong visited the Korea Federation of SMEs to assess the state of the industry.

Meanwhile Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's possible declaration of his candidacy, which started as speculation, seems to be emerging as a key variable in the PPP's presidential primary.

Local reports confirmed the PM's chief of staff and three others resigned from their current posts, likely to prepare for the election.

Among the four Kim Moon-soo is the only one so far who has welcomed the idea of Han running for the presidency.

Ahn and Hong have openly criticized the idea, while Han Dong-hoon has so far refrained from a direct answer, saying he will focus on the primary.

That said, the three did pledge to merge their camps with the acting president if he does run and if they win the primary.

Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.