The Republic of Korea's (ROK) former point man on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a staunch advocate of engagement with Pyongyang, won the liberal party's presidential nomination yesterday to face an uphill battle in the December election against the favored conservatives.

Chung Dong-young, a 54-year-old TV anchorman turned politician, was chosen by the newly formed United New Democratic Party (UNDP) with 216,984 votes from a month of primaries. The next closest candidate - Sohn Hak-kyu, a former governor of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul - had 168,799 votes.

Chung pledged to build on progress from this month's summit between the ROK President Roh Moo-hyun and the DPRK leader Kim Jong Il, where the two agreed to work for a peace settlement to replace the cease-fire that has left the two sides technically at war for more than a half-century.

"Next year will be a decisive opportunity to dismantle the Cold War" on the peninsula, he told thousands of cheering supporters at a Seoul stadium gathered for the party's national convention.

"I have the dream of achieving the historic task of replacing the cease-fire with a peace treaty," Chung said, noting he was born the day the armistice was signed - July 27, 1953.

The liberals trail in opinion polls far behind the main conservative candidate, former Hyundai CEO and Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party, who currently enjoys popularity topping 50 percent. Chung has received around 15 percent in national polls ahead of the December 19 presidential vote.

The UNDP primaries were marked by low turnout, where the party also allowed voting via mobile phones in an attempt to stir interest. The winner was chosen by combining votes along with results from an opinion poll.

Chung worked as a TV reporter for 18 years before entering politics in 1996 as a member of the National Assembly. He became unification minister in 2005, and met that summer with the DPRK's Kim amid an impasse at international nuclear talks that Chung claimed helped pave the way for resumed dialogue.

Chung left the post last year to become leader of the Uri Party, a liberal group aligned with President Roh.

But the Uri Party disbanded itself and was absorbed by the UNDP that was created in August in an attempt by the liberals to distance themselves from Roh, whose popularity has suffered due to perceived missteps on economic and security policies.

Roh's support has recently rebounded due to an agreement with the US on a pending free-trade pact and also this month's summit in Pyongyang with Kim. Roh's five-year term ends in February and he is constitutionally barred from running for re-election.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page11)