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Monday August 20, 5:19 PM2ND LD: S. Korea's GNP chooses Lee Myung Bak as presidential candidate(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING QUOTES)South Korea's main opposition Grand National Party said Monday that former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung Bak has been chosen to run as its candidate in the December presidential election. In a party convention, it was announced that Lee, 66, won out over three other aspirants, including former party chief Park Geun Hye, daughter of former President Park Chung Hee. In Sunday's primary race, Lee received slightly more than 81,000 of the votes cast by representatives and members of the party as well as selected ordinary citizens, while Park got about 78,600 votes. In his acceptance speech, Lee thanked all party delegates and members for having made "a great choice." "I would not spare efforts to revive the national economy and achieve grand unity of the society, which are the two main calls of the times," Lee said. The conservative GNP, the second-largest force in the National Assembly, has been projected by major public opinion polls to win the presidential election with either Park or Lee at its helm if the vote were taken today. The pro-government camp, including the United Democratic Party, is expected to hold a monthlong primary race in mid-September to select a single candidate by mid-October. President Roh Moo Hyun's five-year single term ends in February. His popularity has fallen due to the country's economic problems and concerns over North Korea. Lee has been nicknamed "bulldozer" for the aggressive style he showed while working as chairman of Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. |
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