DPK Begins Central Committee Vote on 100% Party Member Nominations and 'One Person, One Vote' for Local Elections... Will Jeong's Will Prevail?

Central Committee Voting Continues Until 3 p.m.
Jeong Cheong-rae: "Realizing True Party Member Democracy"

The Democratic Party of Korea has begun the voting process on a new nomination rule that will change the method of selecting proportional representatives for metropolitan and basic councils in next year's June 3 local elections to a 100% vote by dues-paying party members. The party is also voting on the introduction of the "one person, one vote system," which would set the voting ratio between delegates and dues-paying members at 1:1 in elections for party leader and supreme council members.

On this day, the Democratic Party convened the Central Committee at the National Assembly at 9:00 a.m., where it introduced the agenda items for changing the nomination rules for local elections and implementing the one person, one vote system for the party convention. After a round of discussions, online voting for Central Committee members began at 10:30 a.m. Voting will continue until 3:00 p.m. the same day.

The Central Committee procedures are proceeding smoothly after the Seoul Southern District Court dismissed the injunction request filed by 954 Democratic Party members the previous day, which sought to nullify the decision to amend the party constitution and regulations. Within the party, concerns have been raised that if the one person, one vote system is implemented, the value of votes cast by delegates-who serve as proxies for party members under the Political Parties Act, including party leadership, National Assembly members, heads of local governments, local council members, regional committee chairs, and city/provincial party chairs-and dues-paying members will become equal. This could strengthen the influence of hardline supporters, disrupt internal elections and nominations, and weaken representation in vulnerable regions.

Jeong Cheong-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the 3rd Central Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on December 5, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Party leader Jeong Cheong-rae emphasized the legitimacy of the change, stating, "The principle of equal suffrage, where everyone exercises one vote, is based on Articles 41 and 67 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea." He continued, "By embodying this constitutional principle of equal suffrage within the party, we are on the verge of realizing true party member democracy." Jeong also added, "We have prepared supplementary measures that assign additional weight to strategic regions through the task force for redefining the role of delegates," and "We have also fully accepted and incorporated the statement from The Mincho, the association of first-term lawmakers, in drafting the revised proposal."

Min Hyung-bae, a Central Committee member and lawmaker, referenced the information imbalance between party members and delegates during the era of military dictatorship, stating during the discussion, "At one time, it was a reasonable form of discrimination to assign different weights to votes based on the roles of party members." He added, "But times have changed. The disparities among party members have disappeared," emphasizing the need to grant equal rights to both delegates and dues-paying members.

Supreme Council member Park Ji-won commented, "Personally, I have some regrets about the revised proposal, which makes partial adjustments to the principle of vote equality, but I believe it is acceptable in pursuit of the larger goal of being a nationwide party." He continued, "Since the issue of redefining the role of delegates was not included in the supplementary measures, I hope it will be discussed further," urging a prompt search for alternatives.