(LEAD) Ex-presidential candidate Lee wins more rounds of voting for new DP leadership

(ATTN: UPDATES with quote from Lee Jae-myung; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- Rep. Lee Jae-myung, former presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), secured more victories on the second day of regional voting to elect the new party leadership on Sunday.

Lee secured 70.48 percent of the vote in the polls that took place in the southern resort island of Jeju. He was trailed by Park Yong-jin with 22.49 percent, and Kang Hoon-sik with 7.03 percent.

In Incheon, where Lee was elected to the National Assembly representing the city's Gyeyang-B district in June, he won 75.4 percent of the vote, followed by Park with 20.7 percent and Kang with 3.9 percent.

On the previous day, Lee also won an overwhelming victory by securing 74.81 percent of the vote in the first round of polls in the northeastern province of Gangwon, the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby North Gyeongsang Province.

Lee has so far won 74.15 percent of all votes cast on both days of voting, followed by Park with 20.88 percent and Kang with 4.98 percent.

Ahead of the Aug. 28 national convention, the candidates are to go through 15 rounds of regional voting, including those from Saturday and Sunday.

"I am grateful as more people than I expected have supported (me)," Lee told reporters in Incheon, adding he will do his "utmost" until the end.

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