South Korea’s ex-PM Han says he will seek presidency in June election

Former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo arrives to hold a press conference to announce his presidential bid (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

South Korea’s former prime minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday he will run in next month’s presidential election and would seek to lessen the powers of the office and ease strife-ridden domestic politics if he wins.

Mr Han’s entry heats up the scramble among conservatives to unify behind a candidate to compete with liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung, whose campaign was set back by a court decision to open a new trial on election law violation charges.