Opposition Launches General Election Nomination Task Force... Lee Jae-myung Says "We Must Prevent Regression and Move Toward the Future"

April 14, First Meeting of the Democratic Party Nomination TF
Decision Not Finalized by End of This Month... Opinions to Be Collected in April, Special Party Regulations to Be Enacted

The Democratic Party of Korea has launched a task force (TF) for the party’s nomination system ahead of the general election in April next year and has begun full-scale operations. The party plans to finalize the TF proposal by the end of this month, gather internal opinions in April, and then enact special party regulations.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at an expanded executive meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 6th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the same day, Lee Jae-myung, the party leader, attended the first meeting of the '2024 General Election Nomination System TF' held at the National Assembly in the afternoon and said, "Next year’s general election will decide whether we prevent regression to the past or move toward the future," adding, "Please create a nomination system that all party members can accept."

Lee pointed out, "Instead of focusing on people’s livelihoods and competing over who does better, political strife that eliminates, divides, and destroys opponents is rampant." He continued, "The deadline for us to establish a just nomination rule?the deadline being one year before the general election?is approaching," emphasizing, "Next year’s general election holds greater historical and national significance than any other. Korean society is regressing toward the past, and the election will determine whether we stop this regression or change direction toward the future."

He added, "In preparing for next year’s general election, I believe it is a very important task to establish a reasonable and transparent nomination system that everyone within the Democratic Party can accept," and said, "Although the nomination process is generally a process of conflict, it should, if possible, become a festival-like process that expands the party’s influence and further increases public support."

Lee Gae-ho, a member of the National Assembly and head of the Nomination System TF, stated, "To achieve the Democratic Party’s top priority of victory next year, all judgment criteria for the nomination system must be based on competitiveness," and added, "We will create a system that all Democratic Party candidates can empathize with and agree on to strengthen party unity and thereby lay the cornerstone for winning the general election."

The TF plans to finalize its proposal by the end of March, collect internal opinions in early April, and then enact special party regulations after reporting to the Supreme Council and the party caucus.

Moon Jin-seok, a member of the National Assembly and the TF secretary, explained to reporters after the meeting, "We will hold about four meetings in total, finalize our TF proposal by the end of March, collect internal opinions in the first week of April, and report to the Supreme Council and the party caucus." He added, "In the second week of April, the head of the General Election Nomination System TF will hold a press conference, approve the special party regulation proposal, and submit it," and continued, "In the second week of April, we will conduct a procedure to collect opinions from party members with voting rights, and in the fourth week of April, we will enact the special party regulations through a vote with 50% from party members with voting rights and 50% from central party members, concluding the process."