South Korea’s former PM seeks distance from martial law in election bid

South Korea’s former prime minister Han Duck-soo stressed on Wednesday he opposed ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law decree, but decried political polarization as he sought to win the ruling party’s candidacy in a looming election.

The conservative People Power Party is divided over whether to defend or condemn Yoon’s martial law, which was deemed unconstitutional by a top court, and Han says he is seeking to unify it behind his candidacy for the June 3 presidential poll.

The conservative People Power Party selected former labor minister Kim Moon-soo as its candidate earlier this month, but Han announced his entry into the presidential race last week.

The party is a long shot to win against the former opposition liberal Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.

“I was always against martial law,” Han told reporters on Wednesday, but decried more than 30 impeachments levied by the Lee-led opposition.

While Yoon cited those impeachments as among the factors justifying his decree, Han said martial law could never be the cure to such political ills.

Addressing Yoon’s claims of voting fraud, Han said the government had not found evidence to suspect elections had been compromised, but called for more efforts to investigate and reassure voters.

“Politics in Korea today is closer to violence than politics,” Han said, citing rampant fake news and intolerance for opposing views.

He reiterated his promise to enact constitutional reforms if elected, and sacrifice his own presidency by stepping down once the amendment is achieved in the third year of his term. Under the current constitution the president serves for five years.

“I decided to run for office out of a sense of crisis that if politics does not change completely, the Republic of Korea, which our people have worked hard to build, may collapse,” Han said.

Han was due to meet the PPP’s chosen candidate Kim later on Wednesday for their first face-to-face discussions since Han stepped down as acting president last week and launched his campaign.

When asked what he will do if he cannot reach an agreement with Kim, Han said that a unified campaign is the only way forward and he would honor the will of the PPP.

Election favorite Lee had nearly 50 percent voter support, according to a survey by the JoongAng Ilbo daily published on Tuesday. The survey put Kim on 33 percent if he became the candidate on a unity ticket, while Han was on 36 percent.

Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday that a Seoul court has scheduled its reconsideration of a criminal election law violation case against Lee for June 18, pushing a ruling that could determine his eligibility to run until after the election.