SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Facing escalating internal dissent ahead of the June 3 election, South Korea’s beleaguered conservative party initially withdrew and subsequently reinstated the presidential candidacy of Kim Moon Soo in a matter of hours.

On Saturday, there was a chaotic change of plan after they tried and failed to replace Kim with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. This showed the leadership problems in the People Power Party after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed because he declared martial law in December. This event might have ruined the conservatives' chances of winning the next election.

Kim, a strong conservative and former labor minister under Yoon, became the PPP’s presidential candidate on May 3. He won 56.3% of the first vote, beating a reformist opponent who had spoken against Yoon’s martial law. But the PPP’s leaders, who mainly support Yoon, had spent the last week trying hard to make Kim step aside and support Han. They thought Han had a better chance of winning against the main liberal Democratic Party candidate, Lee Jae-myung.

After talks between Han and Kim to join forces failed, the PPP's emergency committee did something that had never been done before early on Saturday. They cancelled the result of their primary election, took away Kim's nomination, and officially made Han a party member and their new candidate for president. But, this change needed to be approved by a vote of all party members using an automated phone survey, and this vote rejected the change on Saturday night.

“Although specific figures cannot be revealed, the proposal to change the candidate was defeated by a slender majority,” stated party spokesman and legislator Shin Dong-wook. Kim, who had condemned the party's bid to substitute him as a "sudden political manoeuvre," was promptly reinstated as the candidate and intends to formally register with electoral officials on Sunday, as reported by the party.

“Now, order shall be restored,” Kim declared in a statement.

Kim, who is 73, was an important labor activist in the 1970s and 80s. However, he joined a conservative party in the 1990s. He said he stopped wanting to be a "revolutionist" after seeing communist countries fall. Since then, he has been the governor of South Korea's Gyeonggi province for eight years and has served three times in the National Assembly.

Han became acting president after Yoon was impeached by the parliament in December and officially removed by the Constitutional Court in April. He left his job on May 2 to try to become president, saying his long time working for the public makes him suitable to lead the country during increasing global uncertainty and trade problems made worse by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Han, who had urged cohesion following his selection as the candidate, stated that he "respectfully acknowledges" the sentiment of party members.

In recent polls, Han and Kim are far behind Lee. Lee was the leader of the Democrats' plan to remove Yoon. He made fun of the PPP's attempts to change who would run, telling reporters on Thursday, "I've heard of arranged marriages, but never of forced unity."