Democrats "Talent Recruitment Ceremony as Early as 11th... First Candidate is an Outsider"

Talent Recruitment Committee Selects 'General Election Talent' via Public Recommendation
Kim Seonghwan "Recruitment Ceremony Next Week... 2 Candidates to Be Announced"

The Democratic Party of Korea is set to officially enter full-scale general election mode by announcing its 'recruited talents' as early as the 11th. The first recruit is expected to be an external figure discovered through the 'National Recommendation System.'

Kim Seong-hwan, the secretary of the Democratic Party's Talent Recruitment Committee, told reporters at the National Assembly on the morning of the 4th, "As expected, I think the recruitment ceremony will start from next Monday (the 11th)." He added, "(The first announced recruit) will be someone outside the party, not an internal party member." Regarding the professional field of the 'No. 1' recruit, he said, "Although the person has been decided, it is difficult to announce today, so please understand," and refrained from elaborating. He continued, "We plan to hold recruitment ceremonies about twice a week," adding, "They will be held one by one, and next week there will be recruitment ceremonies for two talents."

Kim Seong-hwan, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Kim explained, "From the 13th of last month to the 3rd of this month, we conducted the National Recommendation System, receiving a total of 8,632 recommendations. Excluding duplicate recommendations, 1,431 individuals were recommended, and the Talent Committee is thoroughly verifying them on a practical level." He added, "Among them, candidates for recruitment or selection are being shortlisted." Regarding 'duplicate recommendations,' he said, "There were over 100 recommendations for a single person," and explained, "It seems this was done not politically but probably to increase visibility within the same group or organization."

Earlier, on the 13th, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, announced that the party would accept public recommendations to recruit talents in preparation for next year's general election. The Talent Committee, chaired by Lee, planned to verify the recommended talents through one or two rounds via the Democratic Party's website and, once confirmed as recruited talents, support them to officially engage in activities as members of the Democratic Party through recruitment ceremonies.

However, since it is a public recommendation system, concerns were raised that recommendations might be biased toward certain tendencies. Regarding this, Kim Seong-hwan, secretary of the Talent Committee, dismissed such concerns, saying, "We will carefully select based on actual experience and what activities they can perform in the National Assembly," and emphasized, "This is not a recommendation system that is solely influenced by so-called enthusiastic party members."

Meanwhile, the Talent Committee is also promoting talent recruitment at the party's practical level, separate from the National Recommendation System. There is no fixed ratio between talents selected through public recommendations and those directly discovered by the party, and the plan is to review both groups together.