S. Korea's Conservatives Move to Switch Presidential Candidates

Initial Nominee Vows Legal, Political Action After Party Tries to Replace Him With Ex-PM

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SEOUL - South Korea's conservatives dropped their presidential candidate on May 10 and reopened the nomination process, after the former prime minister decided to join the party to challenge the liberal front runner in an election just four weeks away.

The People Power Party (PPP) said its members decided to cancel the nomination of Mr. 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.

Liberal Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung 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 favor of the more popular Mr. Han, who had declined to participate in the nomination process while he was still serving as prime minister.