South Korea's opposition party's ex-leader wins presidential nomination

ANKARA

South Korea's main opposition party's former leader Lee Jae-myung on Sunday won the party's nomination for the upcoming presidential election, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

Lee, the front-runner in opinion polls for the June 3 presidential election, won 89.77% of all votes cast in the Democratic Party's primary.

The human rights lawyer-turned-politician was defeated by former President Yoon Suk Yeol by 0.73 percentage points in 2022.

The presidential election was triggered by a short-lived martial law declaration in December.

The country's Constitutional Court earlier this month removed Yoon from his office, paving the way for a -snap presidential election.

The ruling People's Power Party has yet to announce his candidate to face Lee, however acting President Han Duck-soo has emerged as a potential game changer for the forthcoming election as the conservative camp struggles to rally behind a clear front-runner.