Democratic Party, 'Direct to General Election Without Runoff'... Lee Jae-myung Confirmed as Party's Presidential Candidate (Update)

Cumulative Vote Share of 50.29% for Majority Victory... Former Representative Lee Nak-yeon at 39.14%

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, has been selected as the final candidate for the 20th presidential election from the Democratic Party of Korea. In the final Democratic Party presidential primary held on the 10th, Lee secured a cumulative vote share of 50.29%, receiving majority support and advancing directly to the general election without a runoff.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Democratic Party on the day, in the cumulative results of the touring primary to select the 20th presidential candidate, out of a total of 2,169,511 eligible voters, 1,459,992 (67.30%) participated in the vote. Among them, just over half, 719,905 (50.29%), chose Lee as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Former party leader Lee Nak-yeon, who had hoped for a runoff against Lee Jae-myung, received support from 560,392 voters, accounting for a cumulative vote share of 39.14%. The vote difference between the two candidates was 159,513 votes, with a vote share gap of 11.15 percentage points. Following them, former Minister Chu Mi-ae received 9.01%, and Representative Park Yong-jin received 1.55% support.

In the third round of the electorate vote announced that day, former leader Lee Nak-yeon received 62.37% support, the highest he had achieved in the primaries so far. On the other hand, Lee Jae-myung was significantly behind with 28.30%. The turnout was also the highest at 81.39%, unlike the first and second rounds of the electorate vote, which was interpreted as a clear late-stage consolidation of support for Lee Nak-yeon. However, it was insufficient to overturn the final vote share.

Lee Jae-myung, who was selected as the final Democratic Party presidential candidate that day, first expressed his gratitude to the three candidates, saying, "I sincerely thank the honorable senior Democratic Party members who have walked this difficult path together with me: candidate Lee Nak-yeon, a respected senior; candidate Chu Mi-ae, a pioneer of reform; and candidate Park Yong-jin, a young and capable progressive politician."

Lee said, "Today, we chose 'change' and 'reform,'" adding, "I will solemnly carry out the mandate of the people."

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