September 9 Gyeonggi · September 10 Seoul... The Final Showdown in the Democratic Party Primary

Lee Jae-myung Gains 41% Votes in Capital Area
Directly Advances to Final Without Runoff
Targets Seoul with 5 Tailored Major Promises

Lee Nak-yeon Struggles to Block Lee Jae-myung's Majority
Mentions Daejang-dong Scandal to Counter

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The primary election to select the Democratic Party's presidential candidate will be held twice each on the 9th and 10th in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul, respectively, and will conclude. Each presidential candidate is making a final push to target the most densely populated areas.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

‘Front-runner’ Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, will advance directly to the general election without a runoff if he secures around 41% of the votes in the metropolitan area. On the 4th, Lee announced five tailored pledges for Seoul, showing his efforts to capture voter sentiment. The pledges include plans such as elevating the above-ground section of Subway Line 1 in Gangbuk and undergrounding the Gangnam section of the Gyeongbu Expressway.

Lee Nak-yeon, a presidential primary candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is announcing campaign pledges for the Seoul area on the 5th at the Seoul Metropolitan Council Members' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, who is striving to push the contest to a runoff vote, held a press conference at the Seoul Metropolitan Council on the morning of the 5th to announce his pledges. Lee said, "We must thoroughly clean up the corrupt structures revealed by the Daejang-dong Gate. For the sake of the public’s stable housing life, we must uncover the truth of the Daejang-dong Gate and reform laws and systems," throwing a check at Lee Jae-myung. His pledges seem to reflect this stance, including major reforms in the public sector and reclaiming up to 50% of private land development profits.

Former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae also visited the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly that day to hold a meeting with the Democratic Party leadership and announced her pledges for Gyeonggi Province. Chu stated plans to establish a ‘Reopened Kaesong Industrial Complex’ in the border area and expand transportation networks. Representative Park Yong-jin held a press conference in the morning urging ‘prevention of recurrence of the Daejang-dong incident’ and proposed pledges such as the establishment of a national land management fund and a regional development contest system. The candidates are scheduled to hold another TV debate that afternoon. While the Daejang-dong allegations have not significantly affected Lee Jae-myung’s front-runner status, attention is focused on how the other candidates will launch their offensives. Lee, for his part, expressed regret over the Daejang-dong allegations for the first time the previous day but firmly drew a line against rumors involving his close aides.

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