Lee Jae-myung clinches presidential nomination

ILSAN, Gyeonggi Province — Rep. Lee Jae-myung clinched the Democratic Party of Korea's nomination on Sunday, after picking up wins in all four stages of the primary race.

Lee finished atop the field, scooping up over 89.77 percent of a cumulative 1,141,827 votes nationwide against his two opponents, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon and former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyung-soo, who received 6.87 percent and 3.36 percent of the votes, respectively.

Voting in the Democratic Party primaries was weighted so that the voters who have been affiliated with the party for at least a year account for half of the total, with the other half being nonpartisan.

Lee saw higher support among Democratic Party-affiliated voters at 90.4 percent, while 85.1 percent of the nonpartisan voters backed him.

On the last day of the primary in Gyeonggi Province, of which Lee served as governor from 2018-21, the Democratic Party presidential front-runner received 91.54 percent of 550,997 votes cast versus 5.46 percent and 3.01 percent secured by the current Gyeonggi Province governor and former South Gyeongsang Province governor, respectively.

In an acceptance speech, Lee said that securing the support of 89.77 percent of primary voters to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee was "historic," imbuing him with an "immense sense of responsibility to take back power," as his voice cracked with emotion.

Without mentioning ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol by name, Lee said he "shouldered the responsibility to defeat the antidemocractic forces who attacked the people using the powers entrusted upon them by the people."

Lee characterized the coming June 3 presidential election as "not simply a choice between the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party," the two main parties, but "a choice between the future and the past."

Ultimately, the Democratic Party nominee said, the next leader of South Korea needed to bring the country together.

"There's no time for us to remain mired in divisions when the future of this country is at stake," Lee said. "In the face of the new global order of the 'survival of the fittest' brought on by the second (Donald) Trump term, and the fierce competition for artificial intelligence dominance, political camps are meaningless."

Lee also apologized for losing to Yoon in the 2022 election. He said the defeat was painful, but that the days that followed hurt him even more. "Three years ago, they won by a thin margin, but they ruined the country and drove the people into despair," he said.

Thanking his supporters and the South Korean people for giving him another opportunity to run, Lee vowed an "absolute victory" to "build the real Korea."

"Today will mark the beginning of a new era for our country," Lee said.

All afternoon, a festive mood filled the exhibition venue in Ilsan, a space that fit about 8,000 people, packed with an audience holding light sticks and wearing blue, the color of the Democratic Party.

Before the three candidates for the party's primaries were introduced on the stage for the last time, a video clip of Woo Won-shik, speaker of the National Assembly, announcing the passage of a parliamentary resolution nullifying martial law shortly after it was imposed by Yoon late at night on Dec. 3, 2024, was replayed on the giant screen behind the podium.

Rep. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party's floor leader, said in an opening speech that the coming election would mark the beginning of the country's recovery from the "lost three years" of the Yoon administration.

Cheers and chants of Lee's name echoed through the hall as he came to the stage for his final speech as a primary contender. When Lee said he would bring back peace on the Korean Peninsula to make day-to-day living easier for South Koreans and lead stock market growth, the crowd broke into loud applause.

Both of the primary challengers said they would endorse Lee to lead the Democratic Party to victory.

"An overwhelming win is what will make a successful Democratic Party administration possible," the Gyeonggi Province governor said. The former South Gyeongsang Province governor added, "We have one team, and that is the Democratic Party."

Meanwhile, the People Power Party is set to finalize its nominee around the end of the week, on Saturday.