Conservative People Power Party(PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo filed for an injunction on Saturday to block the party’s decision to cancel his candidacy.

Kim submitted the request to the Seoul Southern District Court after the PPP’s emergency committee and election committee held early-morning meetings to strip him of his nomination and begin the process of replacing him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The procedure includes a party-wide vote and final confirmation by the national committee on Sunday.

At a press conference, Kim denounced the move, saying the emergency committee had "illegally revoked" his candidacy, even though he was "legitimately elected by the people and party members." 

He called the decision a "political coup d’état" and an "anti-democratic act unprecedented not only in South Korea’s constitutional history, but globally." 

Kim vowed to hold those responsible legally and politically accountable.

This isn't Kim’s first legal move. He previously filed for injunctions to stop the party from holding its national committee and convention, while also seeking court recognition of his candidate status. However, the court dismissed those requests, saying it could not find that the party’s procedures involved a serious legal violation.