Former DP leader Lee wins southeastern region’s primary for presidential election

SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) — Former Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung on Sunday won an overwhelming victory in a primary in the southeastern Gyeongsang region ahead of the June 3 presidential election.

Lee, who declared his presidential bid earlier this month and is leading opinion polls for the presidential election, won a whopping 90.81 percent of the total vote in a presidential primary in North and South Gyeongsang provinces, and the cities of Busan, Daegu and Ulsan, according to party officials.

Lee defeated the DP’s two other contenders by a large margin — Kim Kyung-soo, a former South Gyeongsang Province governor, with 5.93 percent and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon with 3.26 percent.

Lee’s landslide victory in the second round of the party primary, following his win in the central Chungcheong region on Saturday, likely sets the stage for him to be selected as the liberal party’s presidential candidate.

The DP will hold two more similar regional primaries and pick its presidential candidate on April 27.