The liberal Democratic Party will hold its third primary election in the southern port city of Busan on Friday, three days before it will name its candidate for the upcoming presidential election.
Voting will commence at 2 p.m., involving several thousand party members from the port city, located some 450 kilometers south of Seoul, and North and South Gyeongsang provinces.
The three presidential contenders of the liberal Democratic Party wave to their supporters and party members at a party primary in Daejeon, located about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 29, 2017. They are (from L to R) Seongnam City Mayor Lee Jae-myung, South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung and former party chief Moon Jae-in. (Yonhap)
The outcome of the vote will be released later in combination with those of an earlier vote and a telephone survey involving tens of thousands of voters, including nonparty members, in the region.
The city and the nearby provinces are often referred to as the Yeongnam region, which is considered the hometown of conservative parties, including the former ruling Liberty Korea Party.
However, the region is also home to presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in of the liberal party.
Moon, a former chief of the currently largest political party here, secured 55.9 percent of the votes cast in two earlier rounds of the primary, slightly more than a majority needed to get the party's nomination at the last round of the primary Monday.
Should no contender win more than half of the votes cast in the four-round primary, a runoff election will be held and the party will name its candidate next Saturday instead.
Earlier reports suggested Moon, a native of Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province, may garner more than 60 percent of the votes in the region, possibly setting him up for his nomination Monday.
His in-house competitors, however, insist they still have a chance, noting more than half of all votes in the primary will come from the capital region, the venue of the fourth and last round of the primary next week.
"I will do my best until the last round, which will be held in the capital region with more than 60 percent of the electorate,"
South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung told reporters shortly after the second round of the primary held Wednesday.
An has received 25.8 percent of votes cast so far, followed by Seongnam City Mayor Lee Jae-myung with 18 percent.
The primary also involves Goyang City Mayor Choi Sung. (Yonhap)