Yoon's party names Kim as presidential candidate

Former Labor Minister and staunch conservative Kim Moon Soo won the presidential nomination of South Korea’s main conservative party, facing an uphill battle against liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung for the June 3 election.

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Observers say Kim will likely try to align with other conservative forces, such as former prime minister Han Duck-soo, to prevent a split in conservative votes and boost prospects for a conservative win against Lee.

In a party primary that ended on Saturday, Kim won 56.5% of the votes cast, beating his sole competitor, Han Dong-hun, the party said in a televised announcement.

Other contenders have been eliminated in earlier rounds.

“I'll form a strong alliance with anyone to prevent a rule by Lee Jae-myung and his Democratic Party (DP) forces. I'll push for that in a procedure and method that our people and party members accept, and I'll ultimately win,” Kim said in his victory speech.

The June 3 election is meant to find a successor to conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol, a People Power Party (PPP) member who was impeached by the opposition-controlled National Assembly in mid-December and dismissed by the Constitutional Court in early April over his ill-fated imposition of martial law.

Yoon’s impeachment is a major source of feuding at the PPP and a hot topic at the party's primary.