South Korea’s main opposition party taps former party chief as presidential candidate

SEOUL South Korea AP Lee Jae-myung a liberal who wants greater economic parity in South Korea and warmer ties with North Korea became the main opposition party s presidential candidate Sunday solidifying his position as front-runner to succeed lately ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol The former Democratic Party chief had led the opposition-controlled parliament s impeachment of Yoon over the imposition of martial law in December The country s Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon earlier this month prompting a snap presidential electoral process on June to find a new president In a nationally televised announcement the Democratic Party reported Lee won its presidential nomination with nearly of the votes cast during the primary that ended Sunday defeating two competitors Now the people and our party colleagues gave me an opportunity to win back presidency and build a new real Republic of Korea Thank you I ll humbly uphold that ardent serious order Lee mentioned in a conquest speech as his supporters shouted his name Lee who served as the governor of South Korea s greater part populous Gyeonggi province and a mayor of Seongnam city is the clear favorite to win the balloting In a Gallup Korea poll issued Friday of respondents chose Lee as their preferred choice while all other aspirants obtained single-digit ratings The main conservative People Power Party is to nominate its candidate next weekend Its four presidential hopefuls competing to win the party ticket won a combined of aid ratings in the Gallup survey It will be Lee s third bid to run for president He lost the vote to Yoon in the narrowest margin in the country s presidential elections In Lee ranked third in a Democratic Party primary An anti-corruption crusader or a populist Lee has long established an image as an anti-establishment figure who can eliminate deep-rooted inequality and corruption in South Korea But his critics view him as a populist who relies on stoking divisions and demonizing opponents and worry his rule would likely further polarize the country Lee in the present faces five trials for corruption and other criminal charges If he becomes president those trials will likely stop as he will enjoy special presidential immunity from the majority criminal charges Lee s rise comes as conservatives are struggling to win back community confidence in the wake of Yoon s martial law decree that plunged the country into turmoil The People Power Party is grappling with internal feuding between senior members defending Yoon s action and reformist members who voted for his impeachment This voting is a venue where the people hand down their judgment on Yoon s martial law imposition after the Constitutional Court issued a judicial judgment on it stated Choi Jin director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership It s subsequently complex for the People Power Party to win the electoral contest if they slide over the martial law issue and fail to apologize Focus on the market Lee made headlines by livestreaming his climbing over the walls of the National Assembly after Yoon issued his martial law decree as troops encircled the building Lee and other lawmakers eventually managed to vote down Yoon s decree forcing him to lift it within six hours of its declaration Lee has in recent days made scant comments that could be portrayed as too radical and has focused on economic progress supporting small businesses and easing economic polarization We ve become richer but the reason why people think things are scarce is that wealth is concentrated The so-called polarization and disparity have become so widen Lee declared in a fresh video message announcing his campaign Lee mentioned last week that South Korea should make a fresh start to improve ties with North Korea saying for us peace is an issue of existence and prosperity In an earlier online talks show Lee explained he thinks the U S would pursue better ties with North Korea as a way to contain China and that such a stance would provide South Korea with diplomatic room to restore ties with the North Source