South Korea: Lee Jae-myung tapped presidential candidate for Democratic Party

Seoul, April 27 Lee Jae-myung, former leader of South Korea's Democratic Party, who is the front-runner in opinion polls for the upcoming presidential election, won the party's presidential nomination on Sunday.

The human rights lawyer-turned-politician won 89.77 per cent of all votes cast in the party's primary, securing a majority of the votes needed to avoid a runoff. Lee has put economic recovery as his top priority and voiced openness for talks with North Korea, reports Yonhap news agency.

This marks the highest figure ever recorded in a presidential primary among DP-affiliated candidates since South Korea's democratisation in 1987.

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon came in second with 6.87 per cent, while Kim Kyung-soo, a former South Gyeongsang Province governor, won 3.36 per cent.

"I will humbly fulfil the responsibility of achieving national unity, which is both the mission of politics and the president's top priority," Lee said in his acceptance speech.

In 2022, Lee lost to former President Yoon Suk Yeol by just 0.73 percentage points. The presidential election is scheduled for June 3.

Additionally, the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) also officially declared its support for Lee Jae-myung.

"We declare that Lee is not only the DP's candidate but also the candidate supported by our party. We will dedicate all our efforts to ensure Lee's overwhelming victory," the RKP's acting leader, Kim Sun-min, said in a release.

Lee is the front-runner for the presidential election to be held on June 3 after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for his shocking declaration of martial law.

Cho led the party until he began serving a two-year prison term in December for academic fraud involving his children and unlawful interference in a government inspection.

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