The Saenuri Party’s Kim Jong-hoon defeated the Democratic United Party’s presidential hopeful and third-term lawmaker Chung Dong-young in a high-stakes election in Gangnam-B district in Seoul.

A lot of attention was focused on the constituency as the race in the affluent southern part of the capital pitted an opponent of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement against a leading proponent.

Kim had led the entire process of the FTA negotiations with Washington during both the former and current governments. The Korea-U.S. FTA, signed in 2007 and revised in 2010, took effect here last month.

Kim served as a chief FTA negotiator during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. He had served as trade minister under the current Lee Myung-bak government before offering to step down last December to run in the election.

Chung, one of the DUP’s presidential hopefuls, has shown strong opposition to the FTA, underscoring that the balance of interests in the deal has swung in favor of the U.S., and that it would undermine Korea’s economic sovereignty.

During his campaign, Kim stressed it was the Roh administration that initiated the FTA negotiations, calling on Chung to stop reversing his earlier position. Chung served as unification minister during the Roh administration.

Chung’s defeat is expected to undermine his bid for Cheong Wa Dae. Chung had been confident of his victory, believing that a growing voter sentiment against the ruling camp would work favorably for him.

Despite his higher chances of winning in his stronghold in a Jeonju district, Chung ran in the conservative’s stronghold, hoping to gain momentum for his presidential aspirations.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)