EXPLAINER Why is conservative party going on hunger strike?

People Power Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, right, is staging a hunger strike at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday, urging the party's presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo to unify quickly with independent candidate Han Duck-soo. Yonhap

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) is in strife over picking their candidate for the snap presidential election in June, with some members going as far as staging a hunger strike. The PPP elected labor activist-turned-conservative Kim Moon-soo as their candidate already on Saturday in a second preliminary round, but the party has been explicit in its intent to have another contender run in the presidential race.

The other contender is none other than Han Duck-soo, who served as prime minister in the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. After Yoon was ousted following his Dec. 3 martial law declaration, Han served as acting president until he resigned last week to run in the presidential election.

The ruling party's task is to find a contender who has a chance of beating the liberal Democratic Party of Korea's candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has led the polls by a wide margin. Lee is leading, boosted somewhat by the previous president's disastrous martial law decision, which has prompted even conservatives to feel inclined to vote for a figure of the opposition party.

The reason the PPP has its hopes in Han is because he is from Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The southwestern region has historically been leftist territory. While Lee is expected to secure the votes of the liberals in the region, the PPP is hoping to get more votes from centrists, backed by Han's birthplace.

The PPP is pressuring Kim to cede his position to Han, but Kim has so far rejected the party's requests. The deadline for coming up with a unified candidate is Sunday, when the registration period ends.

Han, 75, is a bureaucrat who has served key positions under four administrations, including as prime minister under the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2007. He is considered a trade expert, having led the committee on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 2006 after a government career focused on trade. Han also served as the South Korean ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 to 2012. He obtained a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University and a master's and doctorate in the same major from Harvard University.