S.Korea: Moon may get presidential nomination

 

South Korea will hold a presidential election on May 9th to choose the successor to ousted president Park Geun-hye.

All eyes are on whether a frontrunner Moon Jae-in could win the nomination of the Democratic Party of Korea in its primary elections on Monday.

The Democratic Party, the country's largest party and now in opposition, will hold its 4th round of primary elections on Monday afternoon in Seoul.

Moon, the party's former leader, has so far won all 3 rounds of primaries, in the race against South Chungcheong provincial Governor An Hee-jung, and 2 others.

Moon could secure the party ticket without a run-off that is scheduled for Saturday if he wins a majority of votes. Recent polls put Moon ahead of his rivals from other parties.

He is gaining support, partly because of his claims that he has been preparing for his attempt to become president since his defeat in 2012.

While Moon has been showing a reconciliatory stance to North Korea, he has made a series of harsh remarks against Japan.

With nearly one month to go before the presidential election, other parties are also taking steps to select their own nominees.