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Gyeonggi governor consolidating lead in ruling party primary

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Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, a leading presidential contender of the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea, raises his arms after giving a speech during a party event at CJB Convention Center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Sunday, when he won 54.54 percent in the party's presidential primary vote for Sejong and the province. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun
Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, a leading presidential contender of the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea, raises his arms after giving a speech during a party event at CJB Convention Center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Sunday, when he won 54.54 percent in the party's presidential primary vote for Sejong and the province. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung is solidifying his dominance in the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) primary for next March's presidential election.

As he took more than half the votes in the primary held in two key regions over the weekend, speculation is that it may be difficult for the runner-up, former DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon, to keep up.

At the DPK's primary vote for party members and the public of Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province, Saturday, Governor Lee earned 54.81 percent, doubling the support rate of his main rival Lee Nak-yon, who is also a former prime minister, at 27.41. The DPK's other four presidential contenders gained support rates of between 0.84 percent and 7.84 percent.

On Sunday, Governor Lee scored another landslide win at the primary vote for the region of Sejong and North Chungcheong Province with 54.54 percent of the votes, followed by Lee Nak-yon with 29.72 percent.

Among the six contenders of the ruling party, the governor and the former chairman were seen as forming a rivalry; the former has been leading opinion polls, with the latter wishing for a reversal. But the results of the first two regional votes just consolidated Governor Lee's chances of victory.

Governor Lee emphasized that he is the most competitive candidate of the DPK, saying that the only criteria for voting in the primary should the candidate's competitiveness in the final race.

"I believe the party members actively threw their support behind the contender who has the biggest potential in terms of competitiveness with opposition candidates," Governor Lee said after the results were announced.

Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, left, bumps fists with former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon during a joint speech event held ahead of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea's first presidential primary voting at Daejeon Convention Center in Daejeon, Saturday. Governor Lee earned 54.8 percent of the votes with a landslide win. Yonhap
Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, left, bumps fists with former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon during a joint speech event held ahead of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea's first presidential primary voting at Daejeon Convention Center in Daejeon, Saturday. Governor Lee earned 54.8 percent of the votes with a landslide win. Yonhap

The DPK plans to hold nine additional primary votes across the country, with Seoul as the final stop on Oct. 10. The overall votes of the entire primary elections are expected to exceed 2 million, so the 52,820 total votes from Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province and 23,803 from Sejong and North Chungcheong Province do not take up a significant part of the total result. But Daejeon, Sejong and the Chungcheong provinces are often considered swing regions in elections, so Governor Lee's two wins signify his dominance within the DPK.

Former Prime Minister Lee said he humbly accepts the results and will do his best in the remaining primary votes. However, the chances of him reversing the final results seem slim considering the large gap between the two, as party members' and the public's participation in the primary votes in other regions will be affected by the first region's results.

If no contender earns a majority in the primaries of the 10 regions, the party will hold a final vote, so former Prime Minister Lee was hoping for a two-way race. However, if the governor's huge lead continues in other regions, it seems unlikely the primary race will go to a final vote.

Governor Lee said he expected a slight edge over the former prime minister but received more votes than he expected.

"I will focus on what I could do for the country and the people. I will also concentrate on competition in policy rather than smear campaigns against other contenders, as we are one team," Governor Lee said.
Kwon Mee-yoo meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr


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