Conservative merger already in trouble? Second attempt by PPP candidate, ex-PM collapses Thursday

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

The rift is only growing within the conservative bloc over a candidacy merger between PPP's Kim Moon-soo and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo before the deadline for official candidate registration set by the election watchdog.

The two met again this afternoon following yesterday's talks that fell apart, only to reaffirm their differences.

For more, our correspondent Oh Soo-young is on the line.

Soo-young, let's begin with their one-hour meeting which was entirely made public.

Yes, Kim Moon-soo and Han Duck-soo met at 4:33 PM to hold their second round of talks at the National Assembly to discuss forming a joint bid for the presidential election.

In a fashion unprecedented in modern Korean politics, the People Power Party candidate and ex-Prime Minister, running as an independent, seated themselves at an outdoor cafe table for a televised discussion.

But the swap of smiles and small talk soon turned into a heated debate, which ended abruptly after an hour as they decided they couldn't narrow their differences.

Kim continually challenged Han's relatively late entry into the race, citing his lack of participation in the PPP primary.

He also criticized Han for saying he wouldn't run if they don't merge before this Sunday, when candidate registrations close, and suggested they should both run separate campaigns until a televised debate and polling next week.

Han stressed there is no time to lose amid pressing economic and geopolitical issues, and the growing danger of the Democratic Party gaining ground.

He renewed pressure on Kim not to stall the process of joining forces, saying their union is the "command of the people."

He reiterated that he'd do all that the PPP wants for a collaboration, and put the ball in Kim's court, noting how Kim had pledged to merge with him at least 22 times in recent weeks.

After emerging as the leading PPP candidate in last week's primary, Kim has resisted the party leadership's strong push to unite with Han, to challenge the Democratic Party's candidate Lee Jae-myung, who leads the polls.

Q2. We're seeing the rift between PPP's candidate and leadership escalate. They collided head-on this morning, which was a very unusual scene.

Yes. The PPP leadership has slammed Kim for his newfound resistance to joining forces with Han Duck-soo, suggesting a change of the party candidate hasn't been decided, but is technically possible.

This came after Kim on Thursday morning accused the party's elders of "illegal and undemocratic moves" to thwart his candidacy in favour of the former PM, and rejected the party's roadmap to quickly form a union this week.

Arguing that he should be the one to set the terms on a merger, Kim has further claimed he presented a proposal to Han during their first discussion on Wednesday, but insinuated the former PM has aligned himself with the PPP leadership.

Han has denied both claims.

Although Kim continues to revolt, the party decided it would proceed with a poll on the two candidates from 7 PM until 4 PM on Friday, to garner public and party opinion in a 50:50 ratio.

While some PPP members, including former presidential contenders, have criticised the leadership for undermining the party's candidacy procedures,. Spokesperson Shin Dong-wook has justified the push for a merger, noting 87 percent of PPP members support a Kim-Han union before May 11th.

All right Soo-young. Thank you for your coverage.