PPP primary narrows to four: Ahn Cheol-soo, Han Dong-hoon, Hong Joon-pyo and Kim Moon-soo

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) presidential primary has been narrowed down to a four-way race between candidates Ahn Cheol-soo, Han Dong-hoon, Hong Joon-pyo and Kim Moon-soo.

From left: Kim Moon-soo, Ahn Cheol-soo, Han Dong-hoon, Hong Joon-pyo [YONHAP]

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) presidential primary has been narrowed down to a four-way race between candidates Ahn Cheol-soo, Han Dong-hoon, Hong Joon-pyo and Kim Moon-soo.

The PPP’s election commission on Tuesday announced the results of the first round of the primary, which cut the field from eight contenders to four.

Kim, Han and Hong — long seen as the leading trio in public opinion polls — advanced comfortably to the second round. Among the two remaining contenders battling for the final spot, Ahn secured a place in the next stage, edging out Na Kyung-won. Candidates Yang Hyang-ja, Yoo Jeong-bok and Lee Cheol-woo were also eliminated.

The first-round vote was conducted on Monday and Tuesday, through a public opinion poll of PPP members and independents. A total of 4,000 people were surveyed by five polling agencies, each polling 800 respondents. The sample was limited to PPP supporters and independents to prevent strategic voting by rival party backers.

The votes were opened and tallied in the presence of each candidate's representative. The election commission did not release rankings or vote percentages for the candidates.

The second-round primary will take place from Sunday to Monday, with results announced on April 29. Fifty percent of the result will be determined by party member votes, with the other 50 percent determined by public opinion polling.

If no candidate secures a majority, the top two contenders will proceed to a runoff vote — again using both party votes and public polling — from May 1 to 2. The final nominee will be confirmed at a party convention on May 3.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY KIM JI-HYE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]