By Kim Hyo-jin
The minor-conservative Bareun Party proposed a three-way alliance to the People's Party and the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Tuesday, to choose a joint single candidate for the presidential election to challenge frontrunner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
But the two parties as well as their presidential candidates all reacted negatively to the proposal.
The Bareun Party held a five hour-long meeting among its lawmakers from Monday night amid rising concerns about stagnant public support for its candidate Yoo Seong-min.
The lawmakers concluded that they should seek all possible measures to win the race including fielding a joint candidate with Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Hong Joon-pyo of the LKP, its floor leader Joo Ho-young said.
He dubbed it a move to "deter a chance of the leftist, hegemonic force from taking office," directly targeting the leading presidential candidate and his liberal party.
But it was not until later when the People's Party dismissed the possibility of opening talks for a potential alliance with the conservative party.
Park Jie-won, head of the party's election planning committee, said, "We will turn down the offer even if it is made. There's no change in our stance that we will uphold our commitments to reform and unify while protecting our identity."
Hong also remained skeptical of the proposal, saying an alliance should be limited to conservative candidates.
"It would be beneficial if we don't join forces with Ahn," he said. "The candidate who has a different ideology and identity has no potential to be a joint candidate."
An anti-Moon alliance seemed less likely also because Yoo still remains disgruntled with the party's direction. Later in the day, Yoo reaffirmed his resolve to run in the race till the end, saying, "There's no change in my stance."
He has rejected the in-house call to unite with contending candidates despite his low support in opinion polls.
Yoo, in particular, has rejected the idea of forming an alliance with the scandal-ridden Hong, claiming he is an "unqualified" candidate. Hong has been grilled by his rivals with his misogynist remarks and involvement in an attempted rape during his college years.
Mindful of the vexed candidate, Rep. Choung Byoung-gug, former party leader and head of the election planning committee, stressed the party's decision does not include a call on Yoo to step down.
"Not a single lawmaker mentioned that Yoo should drop out of the race during the meeting. We just came up with the idea, thinking it is the least we can do for now," he said during a radio interview.
In the latest poll conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo between April 23 and 24, Yoo remained in last place with 4.4 percent of the support. Moon secured a comfortable lead with 39.8 percent, followed by Ahn with 29.4 percent, and Hong with 11.7 percent.
The minor-conservative Bareun Party proposed a three-way alliance to the People's Party and the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Tuesday, to choose a joint single candidate for the presidential election to challenge frontrunner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
But the two parties as well as their presidential candidates all reacted negatively to the proposal.
The Bareun Party held a five hour-long meeting among its lawmakers from Monday night amid rising concerns about stagnant public support for its candidate Yoo Seong-min.
The lawmakers concluded that they should seek all possible measures to win the race including fielding a joint candidate with Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Hong Joon-pyo of the LKP, its floor leader Joo Ho-young said.
He dubbed it a move to "deter a chance of the leftist, hegemonic force from taking office," directly targeting the leading presidential candidate and his liberal party.
But it was not until later when the People's Party dismissed the possibility of opening talks for a potential alliance with the conservative party.
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Park Jie-won, head of the party's election planning committee, said, "We will turn down the offer even if it is made. There's no change in our stance that we will uphold our commitments to reform and unify while protecting our identity."
Hong also remained skeptical of the proposal, saying an alliance should be limited to conservative candidates.
"It would be beneficial if we don't join forces with Ahn," he said. "The candidate who has a different ideology and identity has no potential to be a joint candidate."
An anti-Moon alliance seemed less likely also because Yoo still remains disgruntled with the party's direction. Later in the day, Yoo reaffirmed his resolve to run in the race till the end, saying, "There's no change in my stance."
He has rejected the in-house call to unite with contending candidates despite his low support in opinion polls.
Yoo, in particular, has rejected the idea of forming an alliance with the scandal-ridden Hong, claiming he is an "unqualified" candidate. Hong has been grilled by his rivals with his misogynist remarks and involvement in an attempted rape during his college years.
Mindful of the vexed candidate, Rep. Choung Byoung-gug, former party leader and head of the election planning committee, stressed the party's decision does not include a call on Yoo to step down.
"Not a single lawmaker mentioned that Yoo should drop out of the race during the meeting. We just came up with the idea, thinking it is the least we can do for now," he said during a radio interview.
In the latest poll conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo between April 23 and 24, Yoo remained in last place with 4.4 percent of the support. Moon secured a comfortable lead with 39.8 percent, followed by Ahn with 29.4 percent, and Hong with 11.7 percent.
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