South Korea’s Conservative Party Picks Kim Moon-soo as Presidential Candidate

Reuters

16:04 JST, May 3, 2025

SEOUL, May 3 (Reuters) – South Korea’s conservative People Power Party picked former labour minister Kim Moon-soo as its candidate for the June 3 presidential election, which was called after the removal of Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law attempt.

Kim will face the liberal Democratic Party candidate, Lee Jae-myung, who currently has led each of the declared conservative candidates by large double-digit margins in polls.

Kim, 73, who was a labour activist since his university student days but later turned conservative, served as labour minister under Yoon and has pledged to implement business-friendly policies if elected president.

The election was triggered by the removal of Yoon from the presidency in April by the Constitutional Court, which ruled he committed a grave violation of his duties by declaring martial law on December 3 with no justifiable grounds.