Gyeonggi Gov. Lee wins North Jeolla, further cements lead in DP's presidential primary (South Korea)

[soryang]

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee wins North Jeolla, further cements lead in DP's presidential primary
Politics 19:18 September 26, 2021 Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung won the battleground region of North Jeolla Province Sunday, further cementing his dominant lead in the ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s primary for the 2022 presidential election.

Lee secured the lion's share of 54.5 percent of the 40,838 ballots cast by registered DP members in the regional primary vote in North Jeolla Province, the sixth stop in the party's 11-leg primary competition, according to the voting results released in a primary event held in the gymnasium of Woosuk University in Wanju.

His archrival, former DP Chairman Lee Nak-yon finished second with 38.4 percent, followed by ex-Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae at 5.2 percent, Rep. Park Yong-jin with 1.2 percent and Rep. Kim Du-kwan at 0.5 percent. Gyeonggi Gov. Lee wins North Jeolla, further cements lead in DP's presidential primary...

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210926002800315?section=national/politics


Lee Jae-myung represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in South Korea. The false allegations of corruption raised by the opposition party to try to deflect the mushrooming scandals around their candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and his family were repeated by Lee JM's rival Lee Nak-yon. Lee NY lost support across South Korea for his poor performance as Democratic Party Leader stalling reforms promoted by the Moon Administration and the so called "candle light revolution" that brought democrats the presidency in 2017. The only reason Lee NY was able to edge Lee JM in the one prior regional primary in Honam was because of the regional aspects of that area primary which is Lee Nak-won's home region. The less than one percent edge in that primary is deceptive because the other minor candidates Chu Mi-ae, and Kim Du-gwan support Lee Jae-myung.

Lee Jae-myung has won by overwhelming margins in five of six primaries so far. Lee Nak-yon is regarded as a political hack who favors the corrupt special interests in South Korean politics. Lee tends to agree with the conservative politicians representing those interests. He even called for imprisoned former conservative presidents Park Guen-hye and Lee Myung-bak, imprisoned for corruption and abuse of office, to be pardoned which caused a dramatic drop in his public support early on. I think that Chu Mi-ae, another reform candidate and former Justice Minister on the democratic side (she usually polls about 5%) only stays in the race to deal with Lee Nak-yon's negative campaigning. She more or less labels him as a traitor to the party and the party's popular base in her public statements and on social media, so Lee Jae-myung won't have to lower himself to Lee Nak-yon's gutter level politics of ad hominem attacks helping the conservative cause.