Roh takes the lead in primary contests

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Roh takes the lead in primary contests

Roh Moo-hyun collected 1,137 votes, 62 percent, in the ruling Millennium Democratic Party's Daegu primary Friday. He overtook Representative Rhee In-je for the lead among MDP presidential contenders.

Mr. Roh, a human rights lawyer-turned-politician, now has 5, 750 votes to Mr. Rhee's 5,518. Representative Chung Dong-young, the third remaining candidate, trails at 1,503 votes. In Daegu, Mr. Rhee won 28 percent of the ballots and Mr. Chung 10 percent.

Although 11 of the 16 MDP primary elections have now been held, potential voters in those elections constitute only about 31 percent of the 70,000 party delegates, party members and non-party invited voters who will select the MDP nominee. Voters are based on a region's population. Briefly leading in the race before the March 17 Daejon primary, Mr. Roh fell behind Mr. Rhee after that balloting and remained there until Friday. After the win in Daegu, he leads his Chungcheong province rival by 232 votes.

Mr. Roh, a native of nearby Gimhae, South Gyeongsang province, won the conservative southeastern city's nod by a larger margin than expected. On Thursday, Mr. Rhee charged that his rival, whom a JoongAng Ilbo analysis called the most politically liberal of all presidential contenders, told reporters at a dinner last August that the Korean press should be nationalized. Mr. Roh denied the allegation.

Kim Joong-kwon, a former top aide to President Kim Dae-jung, dropped out of the race after the Gangwon provincial primary March 31. His supporters had been expected to turn to Mr. Rhee, but seemed not to be a factor in the Daegu balloting.

Marring the Daegu Convention Center balloting was the disappointing turnout of only 54 percent.

Mr. Roh is also expected to do well in the Incheon election Saturday and the North Gyeongsang provincial primary to be held in Pohang on Sunday.

But analysts have not pronounced Mr. Rhee dead and buried. The electorate in both Incheon and North Gyeongsang province is larger than the 3,395 eligibles in Daegu. In Incheon, with 3,522 votes, Mr. Rhee has strong organized party support and an upset is not being ruled out. Mr. Rhee recorded an upset win in Daejeon after losing in the first three primaries. North Gyeongsang province has 3,859 eligible voters, but election watchers are worried about another low turnout there. By Sunday, just over 41 percent of the votes nationwide will have been tallied.

by Song Sang-hoon

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