SEOUL, May 10 — South Korea's conservatives dropped their presidential candidate today and reopened the nomination process, as the former prime minister joined the party to challenge the liberal frontrunner in an election just four weeks away.
The People Power Party said its members decided to cancel Kim Moon-soo's nomination as it struggles to reach a consensus on a single candidate for the snap June 3 presidential vote.
Liberal Democratic Party 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 last year.
Kim, who was selected as the Conservatives' candidate in a party convention a week ago, has resisted the party's push to have him step aside in favour of ex-prime minister Han Duck-soo. Kim said he was the sole legitimate candidate chosen under a democratic process.
A court denied his bid to prevent the party from reopening the nomination process yesterday, clearing the way for the conservatives to vote on the two choices this weekend.
Kim's camp said the party's decision to cancel his nomination was "against the Constitution, party charter and common sense of any human being".
Speaking at a press conference this morning, he denounced the party's decision as a "political coup" and accused it of violating internal procedures by replacing him, vowing to take legal and political action.
"Last night, democracy within our party die. (I) will immediately take legal and political action against the illegal and unjust replacement of the candidate.
"Those responsible for this situation will be held accountable legally and politically," Kim said.
Han, who served as acting president after Yoon's ouster, joined the race last week, saying his long public service made him the right choice to lead the country to tackle economic, trade, and diplomatic challenges.
He joined the People Power Party today. The party has said it hopes to finalise its new nominee before the national election commission's formal registration for candidacy closes on Sunday.
The feud has overshadowed the conservative party's already difficult battle to retain the presidency, while policy debates have taken a back seat. The liberal frontrunner has begun unveiling business policy proposals and national security initiatives on North Korea's military threat.
Both Han and Kim trail the liberal party's Lee by a wide margin in opinion polls.
In two-way race scenarios, Lee has 44 per cent support against Han's 34 per cent, while he leads Kim 43 per cent to 29 per cent, according to a National Barometer Survey released on Thursday (May 8).
— Reuters
