Kim Moon-soo, former candidate of the People Power Party, and Han Duck-soo, a prospective candidate for the presidential election, resumed unification negotiations on the 10th, but they broke down after an hour.
The two candidates' teams began discussing unification negotiations around 6:55 p.m. in the National Assembly main building.
Kim's team was represented by Kim Jae-won, the Chief of Staff, while Han's team included former Chief of Staff Son Young-taek. From the party, Strategy Planning Vice Chairman Cho Jung-hoon and Spokesperson Park Soo-min were in attendance.
Earlier, the two candidates' teams had attempted unification negotiations twice the previous night in the National Assembly, but they could not reconcile their differences regarding the introduction of the 'anti-strategic voting clause' and other polling methods.
Kim's team argued that the anti-strategic voting clause (which excludes supporters of other parties from the polls) should not be included in the unification polls, while Han's team contended that the anti-strategic voting clause should be applied, just as it is in the People Power Party's primary.
Despite engaging in negotiations that day as well, both sides merely repeated their existing positions and failed to find common ground.
Kim's Chief of Staff Kim Jae-won met with reporters shortly after the negotiations concluded, saying, "We came here today because senior lawmakers proposed various mediation plans. However, contrary to Han's initial stance of 'leaving all procedures and methods needed for unification to the party,' they continued to insist on the anti-strategic voting clause, making it difficult to reach an agreement."
Kim noted, "The seniors proposed a compromise of conducting '100% general polling' by splitting it in half, with half being polls without the anti-strategic voting clause and half with it. However, Han's team maintained that the inclusion of the anti-strategic voting clause was unacceptable, leading to the breakdown of discussions."
He emphasized, "There is no possibility of meeting with Han's side again" and mentioned, "It seems that the party expects our injunction will not be forthcoming until the candidate registration deadline on the 11th, but we will engage in all forms of struggle starting from this moment."
Earlier, Kim applied for an 'injunction to suspend the effect of the candidate selection' at the Seoul Southern District Court. The hearing was promptly scheduled for that afternoon, meaning the results of the injunction could emerge as early as the 11th.