ⓒYONHAP News

Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung was elected as the ruling Democratic Party’s (DP) candidate for next year's presidential election, set to be held on March 9.

Lee secured the presidential ticket on Sunday after winning 50-point-29 percent of votes from regional primaries held from September 4 until Sunday and three rounds of votes among members of the public. 

While the governor was widely projected to win with around 56 percent of votes, he did so with a narrow margin after securing 28-point-three percent in the third round of public votes, against former DP leader Lee Nak-yon's 62-point-three percent. The former leader came in second with 39-point-14 percent of total votes.

This outcome comes amid favoritism and corruption allegations surrounding a land development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, launched in 2015 when the governor was mayor of the city. 

The former DP leader expressed his intent to appeal the results, arguing that nullified votes thrown for two candidates who eventually dropped out of the race, Chung Sye-kyun and Kim Du-kwan, should be counted, which would lead to a runoff.

DP leader Song Young-gil, however, drew the line, saying that the decision on the votes becoming void was made in accordance with party regulations.

Meanwhile, former Justice Party chair Sim Sang-jung was elected as the party’s presidential candidate.

The minor progressive party’s election committee said on Tuesday that Sim garnered six-thousand-44, or 51-point-12 percent, of the ballots cast during a six-day voting process that ended earlier in the day. 

The four-term lawmaker beat her rival in the two-way runoff, another former Justice Party chief Lee Jeong-mi, only by 264 votes.

The Justice Party holds six seats in the National Assembly.