Young underdog emerges as winner of primary for main opposition party leader

SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician with no experience as a lawmaker, emerged on Friday as the winner of the primary for the upcoming election to pick the new chairman of the main opposition party.

Lee was among the final five candidates selected through opinion polls to compete in the People Power Party's (PPP) chairman election on June 11, according to the party's election management committee.

The former member of the party's supreme council was followed by former four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won and incumbent five-term Rep. Joo Ho-young -- both of who served as floor leaders -- as well as two other high-profile incumbent lawmakers.

The primary narrowed down the eight-horse chairman race to five candidates through opinion polls evenly divided between party members and private citizens. The party committee did not officially release the rankings of the polls, but several key officials said Lee ended up as No. 1.

A Harvard graduate, Lee joined the biggest conservative party in 2011 as a member of an interim emergency leadership council at the age of 26 and went on to become a reform icon. He has not served a parliamentary term.

The PPP is slated to pick its new chairman in a party convention on June 11 through opinion polls to consist of voting by party members for 70 percent and voting by private citizens for the remaining 30 percent.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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