The Democratic Party of Korea has accused Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate from the People Power Party, and pro-Yoon (친윤, pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) lawmakers of attempting to unify candidates by promising Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate from the Reform Party, the position of 'next party leader.' The Democratic Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee noted that they filed a complaint against Kim and unidentified People Power Party lawmakers with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for suspected violation of the Public Official Election Act regarding candidate bribery.

Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate from the People Power Party (left), and Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate from the Reform Party, sit side by side at the 'Seoul Debate with the Weak,' held at the Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 19th. /Courtesy of News1

Park Beom-gye, the head of the legal support team, said, 'In a situation where the People Power Party is publicly demanding unification with candidate Lee Jun-seok, they attempted a behind-the-scenes transaction using the next party leader position as bait for his withdrawal.' He added that 'this transaction for unification proposed the party leader position as a direct reward for unification through candidate withdrawal, which constitutes candidate bribery given that the structure and methodology differ from agreeing to form a policy coalition or a joint government after successful governance post-unification.'

Earlier, Lee Dong-hoon, the spokesperson for the Reform Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, posted on social media the day before with the title 'unification love call' and revealed, 'Pro-Yoon figures say, “We will give you party authority if you unify,” and “Come in and take over the party.” The premise remains the same; the presidential candidate is to be Kim Moon-soo,' leading to controversy.

The Democratic Party noted that Kim and the People Power Party's pro-Yoon faction pushed for a candidate withdrawal transaction through the 'official position' of the party leader and stated that Kim's remarks, such as 'Lee Jun-seok was our party representative' and 'We will continue to work together because that is the right thing to do,' publicly indicated a political understanding and transaction regarding unification, which they believe falls under candidate bribery as stipulated by election law.