From Four-Term Veterans to 30s Youths Declaring Candidacy... The Democratic Party's Primary Race Kicks Off

3 Candidates for Party Leader, 13 for Supreme Council Member
Pro-Myeong Organization 'Hyuksinhoe' Leadership Entry in Focus

The official candidacy announcement by former leader Lee Jae-myung on the 10th marked the start of the next leadership race for the Democratic Party of Korea. The race for party leader shifted from Lee’s uncontested nomination to a three-way competition. The election for Supreme Council members is also expected to be competitive, with candidates ranging from four-term incumbent senior lawmakers to young figures outside the National Assembly throwing their hats in the ring.

According to the Democratic Party on the 11th, three candidates for party leader and 13 candidates for Supreme Council member have entered the race for the August 18 party convention. The party leader candidates include former leader Lee Jae-myung, former lawmaker Kim Du-kwan, and Kim Ji-soo, a young and non-incumbent figure who is the head of the Korea Peninsula Future Economy Forum. The Democratic Party has somewhat eased the burden of the 'Lee Jae-myung one-man system.'

Former lawmaker Kim Du-kwan is a representative 'Pro-Roh (Pro-Roh Moo-hyun)' figure. He entered politics in the 1988 13th National Assembly election as a candidate for the progressive party Minjung Party in Namhae-Hadong. Kim Ji-soo, a non-incumbent figure born in 1986, previously served as the head of the Beijing office of the Yeo Si Jae Foundation (a national future strategy think tank). He also ran for Supreme Council member in the 2022 Democratic Party convention.

The party leader election will be held without a preliminary primary. The voting will be conducted with a ratio of 14% delegates, 56% party members with voting rights, and 30% general public opinion polls. Unless there is a major shift in the trend, a landslide victory for former leader Lee is expected.

The Supreme Council member election, with 13 candidates, is drawing attention. Eight candidates are from within the National Assembly, and five are from outside. After a preliminary primary on the 14th, the candidates will be narrowed down to eight. The average age of the 13 candidates is 53.1 years. Inside the Assembly, lawmakers Jeon Hyun-hee, Han Jun-ho, Kang Seon-woo, Lee Sung-yoon, Kim Min-seok, Min Hyung-bae, Kim Byung-joo, and Lee Eon-ju (in order of ballot number) have declared their candidacies. Outside the Assembly, former lawmakers and city council members such as Jeong Bong-ju, Park Jin-hwan, Choi Dae-ho, Kim Ji-ho, and Park Wan-hee have registered.

Kim Min-seok, a four-term incumbent lawmaker and the 'chief' of Lee Jae-myung’s party leader candidate camp, is the most senior candidate. It is known that Kim discussed the declaration of Lee’s re-election bid together. Lee Eon-ju, a three-term lawmaker who switched from the People Power Party earlier this year, has pledged to expand the 'Democratic conservatives' base. Notable candidates also include Jeon Hyun-hee (three-term), former Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission; Kim Byung-joo (two-term), a four-star general; and Han Jun-ho (two-term), a former MBC announcer. First-term lawmaker Lee Sung-yoon appealed by saying, "I will face off with President Yoon Seok-youl on a narrow bridge." He is a classmate of President Yoon at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

The key point to watch is whether members of the pro-Lee Jae-myung organization, the 'Democratic Party National Innovation Council (Innovation Council),' will dominate the leadership. Among the Supreme Council candidates, seven belong to the Innovation Council (Jeon Hyun-hee, Lee Sung-yoon, Park Jin-hwan, Min Hyung-bae, Choi Dae-ho, Kim Ji-ho, Park Wan-hee). This accounts for more than half (53%) of all candidates. Park Wan-hee is a co-representative of the Innovation Council, while Kim Ji-ho, Park Jin-hwan, and Choi Dae-ho serve as standing committee members. The Innovation Council plans to decide on its candidates after the preliminary primary on the 14th and provide 'full support' from regional organizations.

Although unlikely, there are variables. According to Article 66 of Party Regulation No. 4 on the election of party officials, the final five Supreme Council members will be selected on the day of the party convention based on the order of vote percentages. If no women are among the top five in vote percentage, the candidate with the highest vote percentage among female Supreme Council candidates will be elected instead of the fifth-place candidate.