Despite the 'Daejang-dong Controversy,' Ruling Party's Primary Victory, Lee Jae-myung Says "My Integrity Is Being Proven, Vote Share Actually Increased" (Comprehensive)

Lee Jae-myung Achieves Majority Victory in 2nd Super Week Held on the 3rd
Increases Likelihood of Direct Advancement to Finals Without Runoff
Cumulative Vote Shares: Lee Jae-myung 54.90%, Lee Nak-yeon 34.33%
20.57 Percentage Point Gap Between Candidates... Approximately 200,000 Votes Difference

Lee Jae-myung: "The Daejang-dong Scandal Proves My Integrity"
Runoff Possibility Unlikely? Lee Nak-yeon: "The Possibility Remains Open"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, continued his overwhelming majority victory in the 2nd Super Week held on the 3rd, increasing the possibility of a "direct advance to the final election without a runoff." Despite facing pressure both inside and outside the political sphere due to the recent "Seongnam City Daejang-dong development preferential treatment allegations," Lee's approval ratings have actually risen as the Democratic Party primary progresses. Lee analyzed, "This is because the Daejang-dong incident is proving my integrity."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee secured first place with 58.17% of the vote in the '2nd National and General Party Member Electorate' voting results announced that day. Former Representative Lee Nak-yeon received 33.48%.

This election had the largest electorate size among the remaining Democratic Party presidential primary schedules, with about 490,000 voters. Accordingly, the key point in this vote was narrowing the gap between Lee and former Representative Lee. However, the gap between the two candidates widened further in the 2nd electorate vote, and the cumulative vote share showed Lee comfortably surpassing the majority with 54.90%.

Former Representative Lee received 34.33%, with a vote difference of 20.57 percentage points between the two candidates, amounting to about 200,000 votes. This gap increased from the previous difference of about 120,000 votes. Following them were former Minister Chu with 9.14% and Representative Park with 6.63%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After the vote count, Lee greeted reporters, saying, "I thank the electorate, the public, and party members who have given me overwhelming support."

He added, "Despite the futile schemes of corrupt forces and fake news, I understand this as encouragement from the people to fight corruption and construction forces, to recover real estate unearned income to the maximum extent, and as a stern order from the people to continue fiercely battling construction and corrupt forces."

He also attributed significance to his majority victory despite the Daejang-dong controversy. Lee said, "I believe the Daejang-dong incident is proving my integrity and politics aimed at the people," and evaluated, "That is why I think my vote share actually increased."

He emphasized, "Regardless of friend or foe, I will strictly hold accountable and reform the system so that such attempts are impossible, abolishing the republic of unearned income where a few vested interests gain unearned income and losses occur unseen. I will create a fair country, a country without speculation, and a country where people do not worry about housing prices."

Turning to the People Power Party, he criticized, "They say things like 'Assemblyman Kwak received 5 billion won because of Lee Jae-myung's design,' but I heard it as if it would have been 20 to 30 billion won if it weren't for Lee Jae-myung's design, but because of Lee Jae-myung's design, it was only 5 billion won." He continued, "I trust the collective intelligence of the people, trust only the people, respect the will of the people, and exercise the authority entrusted by the people solely for their benefit to build a righteous world."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the remaining Democratic Party presidential primary schedules are Gyeonggi on the 9th (164,000 voters) and Seoul on the 10th (144,000 voters). Especially in the Seoul primary, the results of the 3rd electorate vote, with about 305,000 voters, will also be announced together, marking the final Super Week. These three votes total about 610,000 votes, approximately one-third of the entire electorate.

Former Representative Lee, who aimed to block Lee Jae-myung's majority on this day, responded to reporters' questions about whether the possibility of going to a runoff has become unlikely by saying, "I do not agree," and added, "The possibility remains open."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.