A former leader of South Korea's progressive Democratic Labor Party (DLP) was selected as its candidate for the presidential election in December, marking his third bid for the presidency, party officials said Saturday.
In the party's primary, Rep. Kwon Young-gil defeated Sim Sang-jeong, an incumbent lawmaker and former labor activist, by receiving 52.74 percent of the votes cast, the officials said.
Kwon, a former journalist and labor activist, ran in the 1997 and 2002 presidential elections on the ticket of the DLP but only garnered 1.2 percent and 3.9 percent of the vote, respectively.
Meanwhile, the pro-government United New Diplomatic Party has started its primary race with a plan to pick its standard-bearer within a month after a series of votes around the country.
In its first vote held in the southern island of Jeju and industrial port city of Ulsan on Saturday, former unification minister Chung Dong-young came first with 33.6 percent of the votes, compared with 26.1 percent for the runner-up Sohn Hak-kyu, party officials said.
After the results were announced, Rhyu Si-min, who finished fourth, said he has decided to withdraw from the race and give his full support to former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who finished third.
Last month, the main opposition Grand National Party picked former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak as its candidate in the December 19 election.