Seoul: The presidential primary of the Democratic Party (DP) is shaping up to be a four-way race, with former party leader Lee Jae-myung expected to dominate given his strong grip on the party leadership, experts said Sunday. Last week, Lee officially declared his candidacy for the June 3 presidential election, following the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol after his martial law declaration.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee is expected to compete against three candidates in the party primary — former lawmaker and Interior Minister Kim Doo-kwan, Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon, and former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo. As Lee is widely considered the front-runner in the upcoming presidential election, the party race is largely expected to be a contest between Lee and the three Kims from the non-Lee faction, with Lee likely to dominate.
“As the period of the party primary is quite short due to the snap election, the primary itself does not hold much significance for the overall presidential race. The start of the primary marks the beginning of our competition with the People Power Party,” a DP official said. It marked Lee’s third presidential bid, following 2017 and 2022. He lost the presidential race to Yoon by a thin margin three years ago.