SEOUL, May 7 (UPI) -- Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday he would make reforming South Korea's constitution his top priority if he is able to secure the candidacy of the conservative People Power Party and win the presidency next month.
Han made the remark at a briefing with international journalists in downtown Seoul ahead of a meeting with current PPP presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo, who won the party nomination last week. The two are expected to discuss unifying the conservative candidacy in an effort to defeat current frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party.
Han, who served as acting president after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and removed from office last month, said that deep political divisions are threatening to tear South Korea apart.
"I decided to run because I felt a sense of crisis," Han said. "If politics do not change completely, the South Korea that our people have worked so hard to build may collapse. I believe that the economy and the society of South Korea should not be held back by politics."
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Han declared his bid for the presidency on Friday, one day after resigning his post as prime minister and acting president. In announcing his candidacy, the 75-year-old said that, if elected, he would work with public input to craft an amendment proposal during his first year in office and would step down after his third year, when parliamentary and presidential elections would be held under the new Constitution.
The South Korean presidency currently consists of a single, five-year term.
Han did not specify details of the constitutional reform on Wednesday but said that power must be decentralized and called for a system "where we invite the public to participate in politics."
"We have to give less authority to the president as well as the National Assembly," Han said. "We have to have separation of powers. After one year of discussion with the public, I believe we can correct the current system."
Han has also held posts as trade minister and finance minister and was the South Korean ambassador to the United States.
Han said Wednesday he would not register as a candidate unless there is a merger with Kim under the PPP banner. May 11 is the deadline for candidate registration with the National Election Commission, ahead of the election on June 3.
"I have entrusted everything regarding unification to the People Power Party," Han said. "No matter what, I will accept the outcome."
He added that a unified candidacy reflects a "solemn order from the public."
"Otherwise, there is no future for Korea and we cannot unify our society and politics," Han said.
