Leading by 25 Percentage Points in the First Regional Primary
Voter Turnout at 51.46%, Over 50,000 Participants
Final Results to Be Announced at National Convention on August 2
In the Chungcheong region convention of the Democratic Party of Korea, candidate Jung Cheongrae secured a victory in the party leader race. Jung received well over half of the votes in the voting by rights-holding party members.
On July 19, Kim Jeongho, chair of the Democratic Party's Central Election Management Committee, announced at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, that "Candidate No. 1, Jung, received 35,142 votes, accounting for 62.77%, while Candidate No. 2, Park Chandae, received 20,846 votes, or 37.23%." With this, Jung took a significant lead over Park in the Democratic Party's first regional primary.
The voter turnout among rights-holding party members that day was 51.46%, with 55,988 out of a total of 108,802 eligible voters participating.
In the regional tour primaries, the Democratic Party only discloses the results of the rights-holding party members' vote. The final ranking in the party leader election is determined by combining 15% from the delegates' vote, 55% from the rights-holding party members' vote, and 30% from a public opinion poll. The results of the delegates' vote for party leader, the rights-holding party members' vote for Supreme Council members, the overseas voters' vote for party leader and Supreme Council members, and the public opinion poll for party leader will all be announced on the day of the national convention, which is scheduled for August 2.
The Democratic Party had originally planned to hold an in-person event in Daejeon on this day, but switched to an online joint speech session in consideration of the severe damage caused by heavy rains nationwide. The party will hold primaries in Yeongnam on July 20, Honam on July 26, Gyeonggi and Incheon on July 27, and Seoul, Gangwon, and Jeju on August 2 to elect the party leader. The Yeongnam primary will also be held online due to the ongoing flood damage.
During the joint speech session before the announcement of the primary results, the two candidates presented contrasting views on the role of the party leader. Park Chandae emphasized cooperation, stating, "For the president to work, the party leader must also work together." Jung Cheongrae, on the other hand, advocated for a division of roles, saying, "I will take care of the fights, so President Lee Jaemyung can focus solely on his work."
Regarding campaign pledges, Park presented promises specific to the Chungcheong region. He pledged to expand the metropolitan railway network in North Chungcheong, to help South Chungcheong become a hub for national high-tech strategic industries, to achieve the full completion of Sejong as the administrative capital, and to support Daejeon's growth as a science city through funding and policy. Jung, meanwhile, focused on pledges related to party member sovereignty, declaring, "I will usher in an era where each party member has one vote," and promising to consult party members on major party policies and to institutionalize all-member voting. He also pledged to revive local party chapters, establish a policy aide system for metropolitan council members, and hold an end-of-year party member concert. He added, "To secure victory in next year's local elections, I will ensure fairer primaries and eliminate unfair cutoffs."
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