Supporters of Lee Nak-yeon Lose Lawsuit to Invalidate Lee Jae-myung's Nomination as Democratic Party Presidential Candidate

Court: "Legal Criteria for Determining Valid Votes Are Ambiguous"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Supporters of former Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon have had their lawsuit contesting the primary election results dismissed.

The Civil Division 11 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Sang-gyu) announced on the 16th that it ruled against 188 Democratic Party members who filed a lawsuit against the Democratic Party seeking to nullify the decision on the presidential candidate selection. Additionally, the court dismissed claims from some plaintiffs whose voting rights in the primary were not confirmed.

The court stated, "Considering the legal principles, it is difficult to accept the plaintiffs' position regarding the criteria for determining valid votes when a candidate withdraws, and it is also difficult to accept the claim of invalidity."

Earlier, supporters of former representative Lee Nak-yeon argued that if the votes for former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Assemblyman Kim Du-kwan, who withdrew midway during the Democratic Party's presidential primary held in October last year, were counted as valid votes, then candidate Lee Jae-myung's final vote percentage would fall below 50%, necessitating a runoff election.