South Korea’s main conservative party nominates Kim Moon Soo as its Presidential candidate

Kim Moon-soo speaks after winning the final race to choose South Korea’s conservative People Power Party’s candidate for upcoming presidential election during a national convention of the party, in Goyang, South Korea, May 3, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

South Korea’s main conservative party has nominated former Labor Minister Kim Moon Soo as its presidential candidate

Former Labor Minister 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.

Observers say he will likely try to align with other conservative forces, such as former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, to prevent a split in conservative votes in a bid to boost prospects for a conservative win against Mr. Lee.

Kim Moon-soo celebrates after winning the final race to choose PPP’s candidate for upcoming presidential election during a national convention of the party in Goyang, South Korea on May 3, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

In a party primary that ended Saturday (April 3, 2025), Mr. 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.

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 and removed from office in early April over his ill-fated December 3 imposition of martial law.

Mr. Kim has opposed Parliament’s impeachment of Mr. Yoon, though he said he respects a Constitutional Court ruling that formally dismissed Mr. Yoon as President in early April.

Mr. Yoon’s impeachment is a major source of feuding at the People Power Party and a hot topic at the party’s primary.

Mr. Han, who served as Mr. Yoon’s first Justice Minister, leads a reformist yet minority faction at the PPP who joined the liberal opposition in voting to overturn Mr. Yoon’s martial law decree and later impeach him. Without the support of Mr. Han’s faction members, an opposition-led impeachment motion on Mr. Yoon couldn’t have passed through the National Assembly because opposition parties were eight votes short of a two-thirds majority to approve it.

Lee is the clear favorite to win the election, but he stands a total of five criminal trials over corruption and other charges. If Mr. Lee becomes President, those trials will likely stop as he will enjoy presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions.

Mr. Lee’s campaign suffered a setback due to a recent Supreme Court decision to order a new trial on his election law charges. It’s unclear if he will face a court sentence that requires the suspension of his campaign before the June 3 vote, but he’ll likely grapple with an intense political offensive by his election rivals.