Democratic Party's 15 Recruited Talents Elected... 'Regime Judgment' Ryu Sam-yeong Defeated

Majority Entry into the National Assembly... People Power Party Wins 10 out of 26 Seats
Ryu Sam-yeong, Supported by Lee Jae-myung, Loses to Na Kyung-won
'Political Newcomer' Hwang Jeong-a Defeats Five-Term Incumbent Sang-min Lee

Fifteen talents recruited by the Democratic Party of Korea will enter the 22nd National Assembly. However, some candidates who were placed at the forefront of the 'regime judgment theory,' including Ryu Sam-yeong, the candidate for Seoul Dongjak-gu Eul, whom leader Lee Jae-myung invested the most effort in, suffered defeat.

According to the Democratic Party on the 12th, out of 27 talents recruited ahead of the general election, 24 ran for office, and 15 were ultimately elected. Thirteen won in constituencies, and two secured seats through proportional representation. The People Power Party fielded 26 candidates out of 42 recruits, but only 10 (4 in constituencies and 6 through proportional representation) were elected, less than half. Judging by the results alone, the Democratic Party, with a survival rate of over half, achieved a 'decisive victory.'

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is campaigning in support of candidate Ryu Sam-young at the entrance of Namseong Sagye Market in Dongjak-gu on the 8th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, looking at the details, there are some painful points. First is the defeat of Ryu Sam-yeong, the candidate for Seoul Dongjak-gu Eul, in whom leader Lee invested the most effort. Including 'remote support' during his court appearances, Lee campaigned for Ryu eight times. Ryu, a former senior police officer, was demoted and left the organization after leading a nationwide meeting of senior police officers opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety during his tenure.

As a figure symbolizing 'anti-Yoon Seok-yeol,' he was strategically placed in Dongjak-gu Eul, one of the fiercest battlegrounds, and positioned at the forefront of the 'regime judgment theory.' Exit polls predicted Ryu's victory, but when the ballot boxes were opened, Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party won. Considering Lee's support and Na's symbolic association with the Yoon Seok-yeol government, this was a disappointing outcome for the Democratic Party. A Democratic Party official commented, "It seems the mistake was excessively emphasizing the agenda of regime judgment without a connection to the local community."

Police officer Lee Ji-eun, who has a similar background to Ryu, also lost in Seoul Mapo-gu Gap. This is a constituency where lawmaker Roh Woong-rae has served four terms except for the 18th National Assembly. Although Lee was nominated in a 'stronghold' where victory was expected, she narrowly lost by just 0.6 percentage points (599 votes) to Cho Jeong-hoon of the People Power Party. There are criticisms that the lack of alliance with lawmaker Roh, who knows the area inside out, was a disadvantage.

Additionally, candidates expected to play active roles as 'economic experts' in the 22nd National Assembly were defeated. Gong Young-woon, who ran in Hwaseong-si Eul, Gyeonggi Province, is a former CEO of Hyundai Motor Company with strong understanding of future cars, semiconductors, and battery industries. However, he faced difficulties due to controversies over housing gifts to his children during the election and lost the party's 'stronghold' to Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party. Lee Jae-sung, a former executive director of NCSoft, voluntarily ran in the challenging district of Busan Saha-gu Eul but was defeated by a large margin of 13.2 percentage points by Cho Kyung-tae, a five-term People Power Party lawmaker.

'Political Rookie' Scientist Wins Against Five-Term Incumbent

Conversely, there are notable winners. Hwang Jeong-a, a senior researcher at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, planted her flag in Daejeon Yuseong-gu Eul. Although she is a 'political rookie' recruited by the Democratic Party only three months ago in January this year, she defeated Lee Sang-min of the People Power Party, who had served five terms since the 17th general election.

Hwang, a KAIST graduate and well-known as the real-life model for the drama 'KAIST,' strongly criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol government's cuts to research and development (R&D) budgets based on her experience, which is believed to have been effective. The fact that this constituency has never elected a conservative party candidate in past elections was also advantageous. The incumbent Lee was originally a member of the Democratic Party but switched to the People Power Party before the general election after criticizing leader Lee Jae-myung's administration. Despite holding the constituency for 20 years, he could not overcome the wall of regime judgment theory.

Lee Seong-yoon, a former Seoul High Prosecutor General, also won a landslide victory in Jeonju-si Eul, Jeonbuk, securing 66.4% of the vote, beating People Power Party candidate Jeong Un-cheon by a wide margin of 45.8 percentage points. Lee served as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office under Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae during the Moon Jae-in administration and was known for his confrontations with then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. From the moment his victory was assured, Lee vowed to propose a special investigation law on Kim Geon-hee.

From the Democratic United Party, Baek Seung-a, former chairperson of the Gangwon Teachers' Union (number 3), and Im Gwang-hyun, former deputy commissioner of the National Tax Service (number 4), will enter the 22nd National Assembly. Baek, who has been advocating for teachers' rights following the death of a teacher at Seo-i Elementary School in Seoul last year, ran the general election as a co-representative of the Democratic United Party. Im mainly worked in the investigation department during his time at the National Tax Service and was appointed as the first director of the 'Investigation 4 Bureau' at the Seoul Regional National Tax Service during the Moon Jae-in administration. The Investigation 4 Bureau is the core of tax authority, responsible for planned tax investigations and is known as the 'President's sword.'