By Kim Se-jeong
Lee Hae-chan, former prime minister under the late Roh Moo-hyun government, was elected chairman of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), Saturday, a precursor to a sharp ideological divide in the legislature.
In an acceptance speech, the hardliner vowed to stand firm against “the right-wing conspiracy on the current red scare” and play a decisive role to see a presidential candidate from the opposition camp win in the December presidential election.
The Roh confidant’s victory is likely to benefit Moon Jae-in, a presidential hopeful who backed Lee during the contest.
Lee, 60, achieved a come-from-behind victory, defeating seven others.
In the DUP leadership election at the KINTEX convention center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, the six-term lawmaker gained 24.3 percent of mobile votes by citizens and on-site votes by party members, defeating Rep. Kim Han-gil who had 23.8 percent and Rep.
Choo Mi-ae with 14.1 percent. Kim and Cho became Supreme Council members, along with Kang Gi-jung with 10 percent, Lee Jong-kul on 8.4 percent and Woo Sang-ho, 7.5 percent.
Lee was trailing Kim, a four-term lawmaker who formerly served as culture minister, in previous votes by party members in provincial regions, but his strong showing in the mobile vote saw him win the race.
"Complying with the wish of party members and citizens, I'll devote myself to government change in the upcoming presidential election," Lee said in his acceptance speech. "From this moment on, we're all united to prevent the ruling Saenuri Party from winning the presidential election."
Lee served as prime minister from 2004 to 2006 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Under former President Kim Dae-jung, he was an education minister, helping revamp the college entrance system.
The victory comes as a relief for Moon, as his rival, Sohn Hak-kyu, former DUP leader and now a senior advisor, and South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Doo-kwan backed Kim.
Moon released a statement on Sunday stating, “I express my deep gratitude to the eight contenders for making the election a democratic process. Now it’s time for us to walk together beyond regional and ideological differences (for our victory in the presidential election).”
Unfortunately, the election result will do very little to resolve differences, as Lee and Moon’s ideology is very much aligned with former president Roh but lacks wide support from within the party.
Pressure on software mogul and Seoul National University graduate school professor Ahn Cheol-soo is expected to mount as well.
Ahn has yet to declare whether he will run in the presidential election or not.
Since the Seoul mayoral election last October, the soft-spoken businessman and professor has kept quiet about his next move. A public lecture in Busan was highly anticipated for this reason, but he did not declare his stance.
Speculation continues that Ahn’s presidential election bid is in the making. In February, he launched a charity focused on assisting the under-privileged. In addition, the computer-science professor will withdraw from teaching next semester. In November last year, he donated half of his 37 percent stake in his company to charity worth almost $195 million, making him one of the most generous donors in Korea.
Asked about Ahn’s potential move, Lee expressed his preference against Ahn’s independent candidacy.
“I’d like to complete a party primary as soon as possible, and compromise with a candidate outside the DUP to merge with us,” he said.