Strengthening Party Members Backfires... Emergence of 'Lee Jae-myung 2nd Term' as the Biggest Variable

Jeong Bong-ju Top Committee Member Candidate Leads in Vote Share
Lee's Behind-the-Scenes Support for Kim Min-seok Candidate Only Achieves 4th Place
50% Reflection of Party Members a Decisive Factor

The strengthening of party membership rights within the Democratic Party of Korea, triggered by Rep. Chu Mi-ae's failure to secure the National Assembly Speaker candidacy, has emerged as the biggest variable in the Supreme Council member election. This comes as former Rep. Jeong Bong-ju, who was excluded from the 4.10 general election nominations due to a verbal misconduct scandal, is leading the Supreme Council member tour primary vote. If this trend continues until the August 18 party convention, it is highly likely that the senior Supreme Council member position will go to former Rep. Jeong. There is an assessment that the strengthening of party membership rights, intended to appease hardline party members, could ironically become an unexpected obstacle to the 'Lee Jae-myung 2.0' system.

According to the results of the 'Supreme Council Member Tour Primary Voting by Party Members' held over two days from the 20th to 21st in Jeju, Incheon, Gangwon, Gyeongbuk, and Daegu, former Rep. Jeong recorded a cumulative vote share of 21.67%, ranking first among candidates. Four-term Rep. Kim Min-seok, who has been quietly supported by former leader Lee Jae-myung, came in fourth with 12.59%.

Democratic Party leader candidate Lee Jae-myung is giving a greeting at the Democratic Party leader candidate debate held at the CBS building in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

This is because the recently changed preliminary primary rules worked in favor of former Rep. Jeong. Until now, the Supreme Council preliminary primary was elected 100% by central committee members' votes. However, starting from this primary, the weight of party members and central committee members was set at 50% each. This was a strategic move to strengthen the rights of pro-Lee Jae-myung hardline party members and expand 'Myeongsim' (Lee Jae-myung's intentions), based on the judgment that Rep. Chu's failure as Speaker candidate was due to the 'shy Bimyeong (anti-Lee Jae-myung)' faction within the parliamentary party.

The problem is that the opinions of party members do not fully align with those of the party leadership. Former Rep. Jeong has considerable support from hardline party members because they credit him for acting as a frontline attacker against the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations in the past. They believe that "former Rep. Jeong will fight the government and ruling party better" than other Supreme Council candidates.

The party leadership showed reluctance toward the voting intentions of the party members they trusted. If former Rep. Jeong is immediately elected senior Supreme Council member upon Lee Jae-myung's re-election as party leader, he will be working right beside him. The leadership is burdened by former Rep. Jeong's past verbal misconduct scandals and sexual misconduct controversies. This was also the reason for excluding him from the nomination in the general election. A Democratic Party lawmaker who requested anonymity said, "The concern is that if former Rep. Jeong becomes (senior Supreme Council member), it could be used as a pretext to attack the legitimacy of the next leadership."

Former lawmaker Jeong Bong-ju is expressing his position on April 15 general election 'disqualification' judgment at the National Assembly on the 11th. At this event, former lawmaker Jeong appealed his grievance but stated that he would accept the party's decision for the success of the Moon Jae-in administration. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Former leader Lee Jae-myung also expressed discomfort. He publicly supported candidate Kim Min-seok, asking, "Why are the votes so low?" In Lee's online fan community 'Jaemyeong's Village,' party members were persuaded with messages like "Let's understand this (former) leader's signal." Former Rep. Jeong, seemingly aware of the uncomfortable gaze within the party directed at him, publicly declared, "I will never engage in negative internal backstabbing."