Democrats, Provincial Party Chair Candidates Enter One After Another... Will Pro-Myeong Control Even Outside the Assembly?

Starting with Jeju Provincial Party on the 20th, Party Member Meetings Held
Assemblyman Kim Hangyu Runs Solely for Jeju Provincial Party Chair
Gwangju Provincial Party Tensions Over Nomination of Yang Bunam and Kang Wiwon

The Democratic Party of Korea's 8·18 party convention city and provincial party committee chair elections will kick off on the 20th, starting with Jeju. This election is notable for increasing the proportion of votes from party members with voting rights, making it a key point to watch whether pro-Myeong (pro-Lee Jae-myung) candidates will dominate each region. In particular, the city and provincial party committee chairs elected this year will have the authority to exercise nomination rights in the June 2026 local elections, raising the stakes within the party. Some regions without strong frontrunners are expected to see fierce competition due to a crowded field of candidates.

According to the Democratic Party Convention Preparation Committee on the 17th, city and provincial party member meetings will be held from the Jeju Provincial Party on the 20th through the Seoul City Party on the 17th of next month. The primary election rules have changed from the previous 50% each for party members with voting rights and delegates to '80% party members with voting rights, 20% delegates.' In regions with a large number of party members such as Gwangju, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Chungnam, and Jeju, the proportion of party member votes has been increased up to 90%.

Lee Jae-myung, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is declaring his candidacy for party leader at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 10th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In the Jeju Provincial Party Chair election, the first party member meeting region, Kim Han-gyu, a member of the Jeju-si Eul district, is running unopposed. Park Won-cheol, a former Jeju Autonomous Provincial Council member who was expected to run, decided to support Kim before candidate registration. The Jeju Provincial Party will elect the chair through a yes/no vote on Kim, who is running unopposed. Unless there is an upset, Kim's victory is highly likely.

On the same day, the Incheon City Party Chair election is expected to be a showdown between Maeng Seong-gyu, a member of the National Assembly from Namdong-gu Gap, Incheon, and Ko Nam-seok, former Yeonsu District Mayor. Neither candidate belongs to the Innovation Council, but Ko is relatively classified as pro-Myeong. He boasted of his close ties, saying, "My 14-year journey with former leader Lee Jae-myung proves who Ko Nam-seok is." Maeng emphasized his role as the chair of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and the synergy effect with the city party chair.

Yang Bu-nam, a member of the Gwangju City Party who has thrown his hat in the ring for the chairman election (left), and Kang Wi-won, an external figure and standing representative of the Innovation Council (right)

Major battlegrounds include Gwangju and the Daegu·Gyeongbuk (TK) regions. In the Gwangju City Party Chair race, Assemblyman Yang Bu-nam and Kang Wi-won, a non-incumbent and the standing representative of the Innovation Council, are competing. Yang's strength lies in organizational power, while Kang's is the high support from party factions. The two candidates are currently engaged in a tense battle over the issue of consensus nomination. Earlier, eight members of the National Assembly from the Gwangju region publicly supported Yang. In response, Kang said, "Consensus nomination restricts the party members' right to choose and obstructs decision-making authority."

The TK city and provincial party chair election lineups have also been finalized. For Daegu City Party Chair, three candidates are competing: Park Hyung-ryong (Dalseong-gun district chair), Seo Jae-heon (former Daegu City Party Youth Chair), and Heo So (Jung·Nam-gu district chair). For Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Chair, five candidates have thrown their hats in the ring: Lee Young-soo (current Yeongcheon Cheongdo district chair), Kim Wi-han (former acting Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Chair), Yang Jae-young (current Gyeongsan City Council member), Lee Jeong-hoon (former Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Planning and Coordination Director), and Jeong Yong-chae (former Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Vice Chair). TK is a tough terrain for the Democratic Party and lacks a clear, strong pro-Myeong candidate in the National Assembly, forecasting fierce competition among candidates.