Sohn Leads Party Preliminary
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Former Gyeonggi Province Governor Sohn Hak-kyu was declared the winner Wednesday of a preliminary to select five candidates for the pro-government United New Democratic Party's (UNDP) presidential primary slated for Oct. 15. Former Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young was runner up.
Coming in third was former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, followed by Han Myeong-sook, the nation's first female prime minister, who did better than expected. The final candidate was former Minister of Health and Welfare Rhyu Si-min. The party did not disclose how many votes each contender won.
Sohn, 60, served as governor from 2002-2006 when he was a member of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP), which he left earlier this year. This previous affiliation is likely to hinder him in the primary race despite his good score in the preliminary runoff, according to political watchers.
He defected from the GNP to which he had belonged for 15 years on March 15, which drew criticism from both the GNP and the UNDP.
Chung, 54, served as unification minister from 2004-2005 and chairman of the Uri Party for five months in 2006.
With his previous experience as unification minister, Chung is trying to promote himself as a peace messenger for the Korean Peninsula.
Lee, Han and Rhyu are known to be loyalists of President Roh Moo-hyun.
Less than half of 10,000 eligible voters registered with the party responded to the party's survey, which experts say could lead to continued fighting within the party.
``Through fair competition and with new politics, I will win the presidential election,'' Sohn told reporters after winning the runoff.
The five finalists were selected from among nine contenders through an open system that allowed non-party members to vote.
Three polling agencies, appointed by the pro-government party, conducted a survey on 10,000 voters including 3,000 party members and 2,400 randomly selected citizens on Monday and Tuesday.
Respondents were allowed to pick two contenders in the survey.
The finalists will hold six or seven televised debates and 12 rallies nationwide, party officials said.
The party is scheduled to hold its presidential primary in 16 provinces, starting in Ulsan and Jeju Island.
The UNDP and the minority Democratic Party may agree to field a sole candidate to compete against popular presidential nominee Lee Myung-bak of the GNP, UNDP sources said.