Result unpredictable in two-way competition between Kim HG and Lee HC


The main opposition Democratic United Party is set to elect its new leadership on Saturday after weeks of preliminary voting that has yo-yoed between two frontrunners ― Reps. Kim Han-gill and Lee Hae-chan.

Kim, a novelist and former culture minister, is 210 votes ahead of Lee, a former prime minister, in combined votes cast in 13 different constituencies since May 20.

Kim and Lee, along with six other contenders, faced an unpredictable outcome as the remaining votes account for the majority percentage of the final result.

The competition will wrap up at the DUP’s national convention at KINTEX, Ilsan, where the results of mobile votes by 85,077 citizens and 40,570 rank-and-file party members will be revealed, and the remaining delegates from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province ― which take up the largest regional delegate population ― will also cast their votes along with policy delegates.

The new leadership will be comprised of a chairman and five members of the Supreme Council to spearhead the party’s campaign for the presidency against the ruling Saenuri Party for the next six months.

The race so far has been a two-shot competition between Kim, who is supported by senior advisor Sohn Hak-kyu and South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Doo-kwan, and Lee, who is backed by senior advisor Moon Jae-in.

The result will be a curtain-raiser for the respective supporter and potential presidential hopeful.

“When I become the party leader, I will refuse to compromise with injustice and bravely fight against the unfair offensives by the conservatives,” Lee said at a press conference on Friday, adding that the rival Saenuri’s offensives focused on him because they feared him.

Kim Han-gill released a statement saying, “If the party is led by self-righteous, arrogant and exclusive factional politics, the DUP will see the people ebb away from the party.”

He also raised suspicion of attempted fraud in Lee’s campaign. He accused a pro-Lee party member, who was appointed to supervise the voting by southern Seoul members, of having copies of a confidential poll book. Kim said he will bring the case to the party’s election committee and the National Election Commission.Trailing the two are Reps. Kang Gi-jung, Choo Mi-ae, Woo Sang-ho and Cho Jeong-sik, while Rep. Lee Jong-kul and Moon Yong-shik, head of the DUP’s internet communication committee, lag farther behind.

Lee Hae-chan was widely perceived as a likely frontrunner at the beginning of the race by representing the faction loyal to late former President Roh Moo-hyun. However, reports that Lee covertly aligned with floor leader Park Jie-won to share the party leadership were seen to put a strain on Lee’s bid for the chairmanship.

In another blow, Lee was most recently embroiled in the pro-North controversy at the National Assembly upon his opposition to the North Korean human rights bill. He was further criticized after he hung up during a live radio interview over questions concerning a contentious party member criticized for insulting North Korean defectors.

Kim, on the other hand, became a dark horse in the race considered to be the prelude to the party’s heated presidential primary.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, which occupies the majority of the party’s policy delegates, raised the stakes for Kim by recently indicating its support.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)