South Korea: Ex-DP leader Lee set to win second term as party leader

Seoul, Aug 18 : The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was set to hold a national convention to elect its new chief on Sunday, with former Chairman Lee Jae-myung widely expected to win the race for a second term.

Lee, a former DP leader, has stayed overwhelmingly ahead of other candidates — former Interior Minister Kim Doo-gwan and Kim Ji-soo — winning nearly 90 per cent of the combined ballots cast by registered party members in 17 rounds of primaries that concluded the previous day, Yonhap news agency reported.

The five other members of the top leadership council will also be elected at the convention.

In June, Lee resigned to run for reelection as the current party rule stipulates the party chair must resign from his leadership position to be eligible as a candidate.

Lee is also considered a leading candidate for the liberal party for the next presidential election in 2027, though he is at the heart of several scandals, including a land development scandal in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

Despite calls for a new leadership among some DP lawmakers and criticism that Lee is staining the party’s image, he will likely win Sunday’s election to lead the party for the next two years.

In 2022, Lee won the chairmanship of the DP after losing the presidential race to President Yoon Suk Yeol by a thin margin.