Conservatives move to switch candidates

SEOUL: South Korea's conservatives dropped their presidential candidate on Saturday and reopened the nomination process, after the former prime minister decided to join the party to challenge the liberal frontrunner in an election just four weeks away. The People Power Party said its leadership decided to cancel the nomination of Kim Moon-soo and hold a new vote on replacing him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, whose late entry into the race derailed the consensus over its candidate for the snap June 3 presidential vote. The liberal Democratic Party's candidate Lee Jae-myung has been a clear frontrunner to replace conservative former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office in April for violating his duties when he declared a short-lived martial law in December.

Kim, who was selected as the conservatives' candidate in a party convention a week ago, has resisted pressure from the party to step aside in favour of the more popular Han, who had declined to participate in the nomination process while he was still serving as prime minister. Kim said he was the sole legitimate candidate chosen under a democratic process. He filed for an injunction to stop the party from reopening the nomination process but it was denied by a court on Friday, clearing the way for the conservatives to hold a new vote this weekend.

Kim told a press conference on Saturday that the party's decision was a "political coup" and accused it of violating internal procedures by replacing him. He vowed to respond with legal and political action. "Last night, democracy within our party died," Kim said. "Those responsible for this situation will be held accountable legally and politically." The People Power Party defended its moves, saying it had no alternative after the two candidates failed to unify behind a single choice. "We determined that a unified candidacy through agreement was no longer possible, so we had no choice but to proceed with the necessary steps and administrative procedures," Kwon Young-se, head of the party's emergency response committee, told a press conference. Kim's campaign said he had made an additional court filing to stop the party from cancelling his candidacy, which the court is set to rule on later on Saturday, Yonhap reported. — Reuters