1.5 Times More Votes Than Last Party Convention
"4 Out of 5 Supreme Council Members Pro-Myeong? Seems Untrue"
Appointing Regional Supreme Council Members Including Honam
Will Promote Common Election Pledges with President Yoon
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Lee Jae-myung, the newly elected leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 28th refuted the evaluation that he was elected by the power of a small fandom at the party convention. Lee said, "Among the 1.2 million party members, about 400,000 participated, and nearly 80% of them made the decision. Calling this a small fandom seems a bit excessive."
After being elected as the new leader at the regular National Delegates Convention held at the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Arena that day, Lee met with reporters and said, "Compared to the last party convention, the number of voters is 1.5 times higher," adding, "About 260,000 voted in the last convention, but now I understand that nearly 400,000 voted." He said, "Currently, there are 1.2 million eligible party members, and 400,000 voted, which is a record number. We need to consider the number of voters, not just the turnout rate."
Regarding the criticism that the Supreme Council members were mainly composed of pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, he said, "Are the Supreme Council members pro-Lee? I am not sure if many of them are originally called the Lee Jae-myung faction. I think that is not true." However, he added, "Because nearly 80% of party members and the public who support the Democratic Party have high expectations of me, I think the Supreme Council members campaigned accordingly to meet those expectations."
Regarding appointments, he said, "During the election process, I hoped that the Supreme Council candidate from Honam, which is considered the stronghold of the Democratic Party, would be elected, but if not elected, I have said that special consideration will be given to appointing Supreme Council members, including from the Honam region and other local areas."
Regarding the summit meeting mentioned in his acceptance speech, he said, "If it can solve the difficulties the people are facing and create a better Republic of Korea, I am willing to meet and cooperate with anyone," adding, "To overcome the difficulties in the livelihood economy, I want to cooperate to the maximum extent possible with the government and ruling party that hold the initiative, especially President Yoon Seok-yeol. Many of the pledges made by Yoon Seok-yeol and myself during the last presidential election are similar or the same, and among these, I want to request the prompt joint promotion of policies that help solve the livelihood and economic crisis."
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