Seoul, South Korea – Seoul, South Korea (AP) – Lee Jae-Myung, A liberal who wants a greater economic parity in South Korea and the warmer ties with North Korea, became the main presidential candidate of the opposition party, which solidifies his position as a leader to recently succeed the conservative president. Yoon Suk Yeol.
He former head of the Democratic Party had led the dismissal of the parliament controlled by the opposition for the imposition of the imposition of Martial Law In December. The country’s constitutional court formally dismissed Yoon earlier this month, which caused an early presidential election June 3 to find a new president.
In a national televised announcement, the Democratic Party announced that Lee won its presidential nomination with almost 90% of the votes cast during the primary that ended on Sunday, defeating two competitors.
“Now, the people and our colleagues of the party gave me the opportunity to recover the presidency and build a new and real republic of Korea. Thank you! I will humbly keep that burning and serious task,” Lee said in a victory speech.
Lee, 60, who served as governor of the province of Gyeonggi more populated in South Korea and a mayor of the city of Seongnam, is the clear favorite to win the elections.
In a Gallup Korea survey published on Friday, 38% of respondents chose Lee as their favorite choice, while all other applicants obtained single -digit ratings. The main popular conservative party will nominate its candidate next weekend. His four presidential candidates who compete to win the party ticket won a combined 23% of the support grades in the Gallup survey.
It will be Lee’s third bet to run for president. He lost The 2022 elections Yoon in the narrowest margin in the presidential elections of the country. In 2017, Lee took third place in a primary of the Democratic Party.
Lee has established an image as an anti-establishment figure that can eliminate inequality and corruption deeply rooted in South Korea. But his critics see him as a populist who is based on entertaining divisions and demonizing opponents and worrying about his government would probably even more polarize the country.
Read currently faces five trials for corruption and other criminal charges. If he becomes president, Those tests It will probably stop, since it will enjoy a special presidential immunity of most criminal charges.
Lee’s rise occurs when conservatives are struggling to recover public confidence following Yoon’s martial law decree that immersed the country in agitation. People Power Party is dealing with the internal dispute between high -level members who defend Yoon’s action and reformist members who voted for their accusation.
“This election is a place where people issue their judgment on the imposition of Yoon’s martial law after the Constitutional Court issued a judicial judgment in this regard,” said Choi Jin, director of the Institute of Presidential Leadership based in Seoul. “It is later difficult for the People power party to win the elections if they slide over the problem of martial law and do not apologize.”
When Yoon declared Martial Law And he sent troops to the National Assembly, Lee was broadcast live when he went to the assembly and urged people to meet there to protect legislators from possible arrests. Lee and others managed to enter an assembly room to vote for Yoon’s decree, forcing him to lift him.
Reading has recently made few comments that could be portrayed as too radical and has focused on ways of reliving the economy, relieving economic polarization and overcoming a national division.
“Restoring democracy is the way to national unity. Reliating economic growth is the way to national unity. The reduction of the gaps between us is the way to national unity,” Lee said during Sunday’s speech.
On foreign policy, Lee has underlined the importance of a Trilateral Security Association of South-Japan Korea. But he has also asked for healing badly frayed bonds with north Korea, Saying peace can boost the economic growth of South Korea.
In a recent program of online interviews, Lee said that he believes that the United States would seek better ties with North Korea as a way to contain China and that such a position would provide South Korea diplomatic space to restore ties with the north.
