Front-Runners Emerge as Primaries Heat Up

Anchor: With around 40 days left before the presidential election, the major parties are determining who will represent them in the May election. As primaries are being held across the country along with televised debates, front-runners from each camp are expected to emerge this week.
Kim Bum-soo has more.
 
Report: Former chairman of the largest Democratic Party(DP) Moon Jae-in has claimed a landslide victory in the party’s first round of regional primaries.  
 
At the South Jeolla Provinces primary held in Gwangju on Monday, Moon won 60-point-two percent of the votes leaving his strongest rival South Chungcheong Province Governor Ahn Hee-jung a distant second place.
 
Ahn received 20 percent while Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung placed third with 19-point-four percent of the votes. 
 
As regional rounds wrap up on Monday next week, the DP will put together the ballots with last week's nationwide votes and telephone polls. If no one wins the majority, there will be a run-off election on Saturday next week to select the final candidate.  
 
Presidential hopefuls from the former ruling Liberty Korea Party(LKP) and People’s Party(PP) meanwhile took part in TV debates.
 
With South Gyeongsang Governor Hong Joon-pyo seeking to reaffirm his lead in opinion polls, his LPK rivals criticized his term in office during the debate.
 
The members of the conservative party cast their ballots in 231 polling stations across the country on Saturday. The result will be put together with a popularity survey running through Thursday to find the finalist.
 
At the televised debate in the South Gyeongsang region, the People’s Party hopefuls collided over the government’s plans for an international airport in the region.
 
The People’s Party will choose its candidate after a week-long primary tour beginning Tuesday. 
  
The two presidential contenders from the LKP’s splinter Bareun Party, Rep. Yoo Seong-min and Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil continued stumping.
 
The Bareun Party will decide on Tuesday who will be its presidential candidate based on party member votes and public surveys.  
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.