South Korea's former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo will represent the ruling People Power Party (PPP) in the upcoming presidential election on June 3.
Kim officially registered as the party's nominee on Sunday, following the withdrawal of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo from the race.
Kim was nominated as the PPP's presidential candidate in the party's internal primaries on May 3. However, when Han announced on May 2 that he would run as an independent candidate, the party leadership urged Kim and Han to merge their candidacies, and negotiate to decide who should be the party's nominee.
After private negotiations between Kim and Han failed to reach an agreement, the PPP disqualified Kim's candidacy early Saturday and registered Han as a party member to nominate him as the new candidate.
Later on Saturday, the PPP held a general meeting of its members, where the proposal to replace Kim with Han was rejected, and Kim was reinstated as the official presidential candidate.
With candidate registration completed on Sunday, political campaigns will officially begin. Early voting is scheduled for May 29-30, with the official election set for June 3.
South Korea's ruling party PPP registers Kim Moon-soo as presidential candidate
Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Italy and Greece on Saturday to protest against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, with protesters in Rome, Milan and Athens condemning Washington's actions and calling for respect for Venezuelan sovereignty.
In Rome, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched toward the area near the U.S. Embassy, calling on Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Police blocked roads around the embassy to prevent protesters from approaching the building, but demonstrators continued to denounce U.S. actions.
"First of all, we oppose U.S. imperialist aggression. This kind of behavior is shameful. The U.S. is attacking a sovereign country, and as [U.S. President Donald] Trump himself has said, this is for oil interests," said protester Giovanni Barbera.
Saturday's rally marked the second large-scale protest in Rome this month against U.S. military operations in Venezuela, following an earlier one on on Jan 3.
Participants included members of multiple political parties, labor unions and social organizations. The protesters held banners reading "Stop imperialist interference" and "Free Maduro," urging the international community to respect Venezuela's sovereignty and the will of its people, and condemning the U.S. for violating international law.
"We are protesting the way the U.S. handles international politics. Since the events of January 3, we have seen violations of international law, and we are very concerned about how the global situation is developing," said protester Stefano De Angelis.
Organizers said solidarity rallies in support of Venezuela were held in 30 Italian cities on the same day.
Meanwhile, similar protests were also staged in Greece. About 200 people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens, voicing support for Venezuela and opposition to U.S. military actions.
"We oppose U.S. imperialism and its attack on Venezuela. At the same time, the U.S. is also threatening Cuba, Mexico and Greenland. We must stand up against this behavior," said Greek protester Argiro Sirmakezi.
Protesters rally in Italy, Greece against U.S. military operation in Venezuela
