DP to Elect Floor Leader and Three Supreme Council Members Today... Leadership Reshuffle in Focus

Four Out of Seven Supreme Council Members to Be Newly Elected

On January 11, the Democratic Party of Korea is holding by-elections to select a new floor leader and successors for three Supreme Council members who resigned to run in the upcoming local elections.

In the floor leader election, which was triggered by the resignation of former floor leader Kim Byungki, four lawmakers-Han Byungdo, Jin Sungjun, Park Jung, and Baek Hyeryun (all three-term lawmakers, listed in order of ballot number)-are running. The floor leader, who will serve for about four months until mid-May, will be elected based on a combination of 80% votes from lawmakers and 20% votes from party members with voting rights.

The Democratic Party plans to conduct the voting for party members with voting rights online from the previous day until 4 p.m. on January 11. The vote by lawmakers will take place at the general assembly at around 3:30 p.m. on the same day. If none of the four candidates receives a majority, a runoff election will be held on the same day to determine the winner.

Han Byungdo (left to right), Jin Sungjun, Baek Hyeryun, and Park Jung, candidates running for the Democratic Party of Korea's floor leader by-election, are posing for a commemorative photo before the floor leader candidate debate held at JTBC in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul on January 8, 2026. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group, Yonhap News Agency

On this day, the Democratic Party is also electing successors for the three Supreme Council members who resigned to run in the June local elections. The by-election for the Supreme Council features a contest among lawmakers Moon Jungbok (second term), Lee Geontae (first term), Lee Seongyun (first term), and Kang Deukgu (second term), listed in order of ballot number.

The Supreme Council members are elected by combining 50% of the votes from party members with voting rights and 50% from central committee members, using a two-vote system, which effectively means each voter casts two votes.

Online voting will be held from January 9 to 11, and voting via the automated response system (ARS) will take place from January 10 to 11.

Attention is focused on which side will see a candidate eliminated: Moon Jungbok and Lee Seongyun, who are considered pro-Jeong Cheongrae candidates, or Lee Geontae and Kang Deukgu, who are aligned with Lee Jaemyung.

Since four out of the seven Supreme Council members will be newly elected in these by-elections for the floor leader and Supreme Council, the results could potentially lead to a reorganization of Representative Jeong’s leadership structure.

Moon Jungbok, Yoo Dongcheol, Kang Deukgu, Lee Geontae, and Lee Seongyun, candidates running for the Democratic Party of Korea's Supreme Council by-election, are taking a commemorative photo wishing for success before the 2nd joint debate of the Supreme Council by-election held at the Democratic Party of Korea headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the 5th. Yoo Dongcheol, Democratic Party regional committee chairman for Suyeong District, Busan, withdrew his candidacy for the Supreme Council the day after the debate, on the 6th. January 5, 2026 Photo by Kim Hyunmin