[Terrestrial Dream]

Opposition Makes Pick in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — A former human rights lawyer and ally of former President Roh Moo-hyun was chosen on Sunday as the main opposition party’s candidate for the presidential election in December.

The candidate, Moon Jae-in, a lawmaker from the southeastern city of Pusan, won more than 56 percent of the votes cast in a series of regional primaries that ended Sunday, the opposition party, Democratic United, announced.

Mr. Moon, 59, was widely expected to enter negotiations with Ahn Cheol-soo, an entrepreneur turned university dean, to decide which of the two should represent the broader liberal camp in the election.

If Mr. Ahn, who does not belong to any party, decides to enter the race, it is unclear whether he will run as an independent or support Mr. Moon. To avoid splitting the liberal vote, he could also try to persuade Mr. Moon to step aside and seek his endorsement. He has said he will announce his plans this month.

Park Geun-hye, the daughter of Park Chung-hee, a former president who established a military dictatorship, is the presidential candidate of the conservative governing party. Ms. Park has had a lead in recent surveys, trailed by Mr. Ahn and Mr. Moon.

But Mr. Ahn, whose criticism of the existing political parties and big business made him a political star, would pose a strong challenge to Ms. Park if they competed one on one, according to the polls.

Mr. Moon has served in various political posts, including as Mr. Roh’s chief of staff. The two had been friends since the 1980s, when they worked together to defend students and labor activists who were persecuted under the military dictatorship.

Mr. Roh, who completed his five-year term in 2008, committed suicide in 2009 as prosecutors began investigating corruption accusations against his family. Mr. Roh’s allies considered the inquiry a political vendetta by the conservatives who assumed power in 2008.

Mr. Moon consolidated the opposition by emphasizing that he would finish the work that Mr. Roh had started: ending corrupt practices by the country’s rich and powerful, expanding welfare benefits, punishing what he called “politically motivated prosecutors,” protecting small businesses from the country’s family-controlled conglomerates and seeking peace with North Korea.

“Fairness and justice will be the base of my government,” Mr. Moon said in his acceptance speech on Sunday.