Rep. Moon Jae-in, a lawyer-turned-politician, won his eighth consecutive victory in a key regional primary of the Democratic United Party (DUP) on Thursday, coming closer to securing the main opposition party's presidential candidacy ahead of the Dec. 19 polls.
Moon, a former chief of staff to the late President Roh Moo-hyun, secured 33,909 votes, or 48.5 percent of ballots cast in the Gwangju-South Jeolla Province primary.
The win is significant because it was seen as representing solid public support for the DUP candidate in a region that has been the bastion of support for liberal parties in the past.
Of 139,276 people eligible to vote, 50.2 percent or 69,972 people cast their votes, the party's election committee said.
Former DUP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu finished second by grabbing 32.3 percent or 22,610 votes, while South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Doo-kwan came in third by winning 15.7 percent of the votes. Former Commerce Minister Chung Sye-kyun finished last with just 3.5 percent of votes cast.
Moon has secured 46.8 percent of all votes cast so far, totaling 95,813 ballots, followed by Sohn with 25.9 percent, Kim with 18.8 percent and Chung with 8.5 percent.
After the regional election results were announced, Moon stressed that the win in the region gave him "legitimacy" as an opposition contender.
"Based on the good showing I plan repay the debt of confidence shown by voters by winning the presidential race," he said.
Moon's winning streak has been widely expected, as the 59-year-old candidate has led public opinion polls among the four hopefuls competing for the party's nomination.
Despite Moon's strong showing within the party, nationwide opinion polls show the first-term lawmaker falling behind the ruling Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye and Ahn Cheol-soo, a software entrepreneur-turned-professor who is popular among young and urban voters.
Ahn, who is not affiliated with any political party, has not yet announced his bid to run for president, although many political watchers have said he should make a decision within the month.
The DUP, meanwhile, is expected to announce the final winner of its regional primaries on Sept. 16, but if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of all votes cast, a run-off election will be held a week later. (Yonhap)