Roh's weekend sweep

POHANG - Roh Moo-hyun completed a weekend sweep in the Millennium Democratic presidential primary Sunday, winning in North Gyeongsang province, on top of Saturday's victory in Incheon.

Mr. Roh took 1,246 votes in North Gyeongsang, 59.4 percent of the total, leaving Rhee In-je only 31.9 percent. Chung Dong-young, the third candidate, gained 8.7 percent of the votes. On Saturday, Mr. Roh trounced Mr. Rhee by 1,022 votes to 816, or 51.9 percent to 41.4 percent. Mr. Chung again finished far behind with 6.7 percent of the votes. With 11 of the 16 primaries finished, Mr. Roh leads with 47.6 percent of overall votes. Mr. Rhee has 41.6 percent and Mr. Chung, 10.8 percent.

The three straight wins for Mr. Roh, including Friday's race in Daegu, are expected to influence the outcome of the remaining primaries. With his success in Daegu and Pohang, Mr. Roh showed that "Rohphoon," the term used for his unexpected success in the race, could also operate in Gyeongsang province, where many expected the mostly conservative voters to go for Mr. Rhee. Saturday's Incheon race was significant in that it is the first primary to be held in the vicinity of Seoul and thus seen as a testing ground for Seoul's primary, the last to be held, on April 27.

The weekend's primaries were held amid what could be the biggest controversy the party's primaries have seen, with Mr. Rhee and Mr. Roh engaged in a no-holds-barred clash of allegations. Mr. Rhee had alleged on Thursday that his opponent had said at a private dinner with reporters last August that the major newspapers in Korea should be nationalized, a claim that Mr. Roh vehemently denied. Should either be proved to have spoken falsely, it could seriously affect his challenge for the presidential seat.

The regional distribution of the remaining primaries makes political prognosticators wonder if it isn't Mr. Roh who has the upper hand. After elections in North Chungcheong province and South Jeolla province next weekend comes Mr. Roh's home city of Busan. Although Mr. Rhee has a strong foothold in North Chungcheong province, Busan's 5,095 electors far outnumbers the province's 2,054 voters.

However, Mr. Rhee has plenty of room for a comeback. The last two primaries in Gyeonggi province and Seoul will involve 38 percent of the total electorate.

by Kang Min-seok