South Korea’s conservatives settle on Kim Moon-soo after nomination turmoil exposes rifts

SEOUL - South Korea’s conservatives made another about-face on May 11 and reinstated their nominee, just hours after dropping him and reopening the nomination process as the divided party struggled for unity to challenge the liberal frontrunner in a presidential election four weeks away.

People Power Party nominee Kim Moon-soo welcomed the decision, which was made after polling party members over whether to replace 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

.

“Now everything will fall into place,” he said in a statement, promising to seek unity and build a “big tent” coalition to take on liberal Democratic Party’s candidate Lee Jae-myung when campaigning officially begins on May 12.

Liberal Democratic Party candidate Lee has been a clear front runner to replace conservative former president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was

removed from office in April

for violating his duties by declaring a short-lived martial law in December.

Mr Kim, who was selected as the candidate at a party convention a week ago, has resisted pressure from the party to step aside in favour of the more popular Mr Han, who had declined to participate in the nomination process while he was still serving as prime minister.

Mr Kim spent the recent days openly clashing with PPP leadership and filing legal challenges against the party, including in the hours before he was reinstated.

He said he was the sole legitimate candidate chosen under a democratic process.

He filed an injunction to stop the party from reopening the nomination process, but it was denied by a court on May 9, clearing the way for the conservatives to hold a new vote this weekend.

Mr Kim told a press conference earlier on May 10 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,” Mr Kim had said. “Those responsible for this situation will be held accountable legally and politically.”

The PPP 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,” Mr Kwon Young-se, head of the party’s emergency response committee, told a press conference. “We deeply regret that it came to this, but it was unavoidable. We believe there are no legal issues with the process.”

The party was racing to finalise its new nominee before the national election commission’s formal registration for candidacy closes on May 11.

Mr Han, who joined the People Power Party on May 10 after resigning as prime minister a week earlier, had also served as acting president following Yoon’s ouster.

The feud between the two prospective candidates has cast a shadow over the conservative party’s already difficult battle to retain the presidency, while policy debates have taken a back seat.

Both Mr Han and Mr Kim trail the DP’s Lee by a wide margin in opinion polls.

In two-way race scenarios, Lee has 44 per cent support against Mr Han with 34 per cent, while Lee leads 43 per cent against Mr Kim's 29 per cent, according to a National Barometer Survey released on May 8. REUTERS