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

South Korea’s embattled conservative party has taken the unprecedented step of nullifying its primary and replacing presidential candidate Kim Moon Soo with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, just one week after Kim’s selection.

Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate for South Korea's conservative People Power Party, talks with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo during a meeting to discuss unifying candidacy in Seoul, South Korea,