Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has urged conservatives to join forces to win the upcoming presidential election, saying that while their opponents are strong, the conservatives can and must win. 

The disgraced former leader issued the message Sunday in a social media post after Kim Moon-soo emerged as the People Power Party’s candidate, having survived a last-minute effort to replace him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Yoon said the mission for liberal democracy and national prosperity that Han declared at the time of his candidacy must continue under Kim. 

Yoon continued that those who supported Kim must join hands with others now, emphasizing that the conservatives’ fight is not an internal one but a fight against external totalitarian forces that threaten freedom.

He said the upcoming election is not simply about a change of government, but is a life-or-death contest that will decide whether the nation preserves its system of free governance or destroys it.