Main opposition leadership race in chaos

Candidates of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party's (LKP) leadership race prepare to make a joint announcement to boycott the party's national convention in Seoul, Monday. From left are Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Rep. Joo Ho-young, Rep. Shim Jae-cheol and Rep. Chung Woo-taik. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

The leadership race at the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is being thrown into chaos after six out of eight contenders pledged to drop out Sunday.

The six ― former LKP leader Hong Joon-pyo, former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Reps. Shim Jae-cheol, Ahn Sang-soo, Chung Woo-taik and Joo Ho-young ― agreed to withdraw from the race unless the interim party leadership postpones a national convention for at least two weeks.

They are demanding a delay of the convention, scheduled for Feb. 27, due to it clashing with a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which is to be held on Feb. 27 and 28 in Vietnam. However, the leadership, led by Kim Byung-joon, decided to go ahead with the convention as scheduled, Friday, drawing criticism from the candidates for being in favor of former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who has been leading in recent polls.

“The Feb. 27 national convention should be postponed for more than two weeks. Otherwise, we will not register as candidates on Feb. 12. If the party finds it difficult to secure a place to hold the venue as a result, it is okay with us for it to be held outside,” the six said in a joint statement.

“The party's election commission unilaterally decided election rules without consultations with candidates, which is unfair and not based on democratic process. We consider the party to be running the election in favor of a certain candidate.”

They demanded a delay in the election as it could fail to attract people's attention due to the summit.

Meanwhile, the remaining candidates, Hwang and Rep. Kim Jin-tae, do not want the election to be postponed.

Hwang, the most favorable conservative candidate for the 2022 presidential election in recent polls, has had his eligibility as a candidate for the conservative party questioned, and has been criticized for his “deep” connections to convicted former President Park Geun-hye.