Democratic Party Primary's Major Turning Point: Lee Jae-myung Fails to Surpass 50% Support in Gwangju-Jeonnam Primary on 25th
Lee Nak-yeon Achieves First Goal of Blocking Majority Support
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 25th, the first announcement day of the Honam region primary, considered the biggest battleground in the Democratic Party's primary, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung suffered a direct hit from the 'Daejang-dong scandal' as he failed to secure majority support with 46.95% of the vote in the Gwangju-Jeonnam primary. While Lee had won a majority in the previously held Chungcheong region (75,000 voters), Daegu-Gyeongbuk (16,000 voters), and Gangwon (16,000 voters), former representative Lee received 47.12% support in Gwangju-Jeonnam, where 127,000 voters participated, winning by a margin of 0.17 percentage points over Governor Lee. This is the first time Lee failed to secure a majority and was pushed to second place. Lee said he realized the 'Daejang-dong scandal' could affect the election and announced plans for active future responses, while former representative Lee expressed determination to maintain momentum in the remaining primaries, saying that voters will gradually come to see the true nature of the candidates.
Although the overall trend in the Honam region can only be accurately assessed after the results from Jeonbuk (76,000 voters) on the 26th are announced, former representative Lee’s camp, which had set the first goal as 'blocking Governor Lee Jae-myung from securing a majority,' is optimistic that the atmosphere of the upcoming primaries could change based on the results of the day. Since it was initially predicted that gaining momentum in the Honam region could lead to a runoff in mid-October, former representative Lee’s camp appears highly encouraged.
The Democratic Party will decide the final candidate in the Seoul tour primary on October 10th. If no candidate secures a majority, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held 4-5 days later. The Honam region primary electorate numbers about 200,000, significantly larger than Chungcheong, Daegu-Gyeongbuk, and Gangwon. If the tide is turned here, it could also influence the primary atmosphere in Jeju (October 1st, 13,000 voters), Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (October 2nd, 62,000 voters), and Incheon (October 3rd, 22,000 voters).
Former representative Lee has recently emphasized his distinction from Governor Lee, who is under suspicion of preferential treatment in the Seongnam Daejang-dong development. During his tour speech in Gwangju-Jeonnam, he said, "Many citizens are angry these days over the Seongnam Daejang-dong development corruption," directly attacking Governor Lee by stating, "I will thoroughly investigate the corruption and ensure that anyone involved is severely punished according to the law." He also said, "We will recover unjust gains according to the law and fairly compensate original residents and tenants who suffered damages," adding, "We will establish justice in real estate."
After his first victory of the day, former representative Lee said, "Today, you have rekindled a greater flame of hope," and added, "As time goes by, people will come to know more and more about the true nature of the candidates."
Governor Lee, who had hoped to proceed directly to the general election riding the 'Lee Jae-myung momentum,' appeared calm about the day's results but acknowledged that the recently surfaced 'Daejang-dong development preferential treatment scandal' likely influenced the election and announced plans for a direct breakthrough.
After the results were announced, Governor Lee told reporters, "There are inevitably advantages in the political stronghold of the politician involved," showing a humble acceptance of the election results.
Regarding the Daejang-dong controversy, he said, "I think this could affect the vote," adding, "Taking this incident as an opportunity, I will politically push for the complete recovery of unearned income, and create a situation where even those who opposed public development or questioned why public development was not done or why more was not recovered cannot oppose it. I am very pleased to implement a system where the state recovers land unearned income and returns it to the people."
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