Moon wins 6th straight primary

Rep. Moon Jae-in, left, of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) shakes hands with former DUP leader Sohn Hak-kyu after Sohn delivered a speech at the Samsan World Gym in Incheon, Sunday. / Yonhap

Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) won a primary race in Incheon, Sunday, his sixth straight victory.

Despite the winning streak, the former presidential chief of staff under the former Roh Moo-hyun government may need to compete in a run-off election after the DUP primaries end.

The main opposition party’s rules stipulate that a winner of the primaries will have to compete with the runner-up candidate if he or she fails to garner 50 percent or more of the overall votes.

Moon’s total so far in the six primaries is 46.2 percent, followed by Sohn Hak-kyu, a former DUP chairman, with 25.8 percent.
In the Incheon race, Moon garnered 5,928 votes, or 50.1 percent of all votes counted, out of 11,834 votes cast, according to the party’s election committee.

In an acceptance speech, Moon said he would “fight to the end to win the presidential election.” He called on DUP delegates to participate in voting, expressing worries over lower voter turnouts as the primaries went on.

Sohn also followed Moon in Incheon with 26.6 percent. Former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Doo-kwan came third with 16.7 percent ahead of former Trade Minister Chung Sye-kyun with 6.7 percent.

The final winner of the regional primaries is expected to be announced on Sept. 16.

Seven more contests are left in South Gyeongsang Province, Gwangju/South Jeolla Province, Busan, Sejong City/Daejeon/South Chungcheong Province, Daegu/North Gyeongsang Province, Gyeonggi Province and Seoul.

Although the delegate size is relatively small compared with other regions, the Incheon primary is important as the results are viewed
as a litmus test for the voting trend of the greater Seoul area.

If the run-off is to be held, the three other candidates could form an alliance against Moon.
Meanwhile, within the DUP, calls are mounting for Chairman Lee Hae-chan and floor leader Park Jie-won to take responsibility for lackluster primaries.

Disgruntled lawmakers have held several rounds of closed-door meetings to discuss the party’s internal affairs, including the DUP leadership’s management of the primaries.

Several junior lawmakers, including Rep. Hwang Ju-hong, are critical of the Lee-Park leadership, saying the two are responsible for the party’s falling ratings and that the primaries have lacked excitement.

They allege that Lee and Park are close to Moon and they operated the primaries in favor of the frontrunner. It is not clear whether the junior lawmakers will respond with a collective action.

Several polling stations were left empty as delegates stayed away. One senior DUP member even said that the biggest crowd is sometimes made up of the journalists who follow the candidates. In Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, only 322 delegates cast votes. <The Korea Times/Kim Se-jeong>

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