The Democratic Party of Korea to Elect New Leader at National Party Convention Today

The Democratic Party of Korea will hold a national party convention today at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to elect a new party leader and one 최고위원 (Supreme Council Member).

This election will be conducted by combining votes from party members (55%), votes from delegates (15%), and public opinion polls (30%), with the candidate receiving the highest support being elected as the new party leader.

The candidates for the party leader election are Jeong Cheong-rae and Park Chan-dae, listed in order of their nomination numbers.

In the recent regional primaries held in the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions last month, Jeong Cheong-rae recorded significant advantages with 62.77% and 62.55% of the votes, respectively.

Looking at the cumulative vote percentages so far, Jeong is leading with 62.65% compared to Park’s 37.35%, a difference of 25.3 percentage points.

Key Variable: Delegate Votes May Decide Election Outcome

At this national convention, there will be on-site voting from the rights party members in Seoul, Gangwon, and Jeju, alongside on-site voting for rights party members from the Jeolla region and the metropolitan area (Gyeonggi/Incheon), which was previously postponed due to heavy rains.

The major focus of the election will likely be the votes of around 16,000 delegates.

Considering the voter structure and the reflection rate of votes, one delegate vote carries the weight of approximately 17 votes from rights party members, making its influence significant. One delegate vote is equivalent to about 17 votes from party members.

Delegates are composed of organized figures such as members of the National Assembly and heads of local governments, and their votes may influence the overall sentiment of party members.

Jeong Cheong-rae's camp believes that the delegate votes alone will not be sufficient to overturn the trend of the overall votes of party members. They contend that, considering the results of previous regional primaries and recent opinion polls, a reversal is unlikely.

Conversely, Park Chan-dae’s camp is expecting a ‘last-minute turnaround’ based on their strong support within the National Assembly, anticipating a decisive victory in the delegate votes.

New Leader to Serve Remaining Term of President Lee Jae-myung

The newly elected party leader will take over the remaining term of former leader President Lee Jae-myung and will serve until August of next year.

In the vacant position of 최고위원 (Supreme Council Member) previously held by Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Lee Hwang-myung is running unopposed, and his selection will be determined by a yes/no vote among rights party members.

In terms of duration, the new party leader’s term is only about half of a regular term.

However, considering that this is the first leader elected since the inauguration of the Lee Jae-myung administration and that the new leader will exercise nomination rights for the local elections in June next year, the symbolism and influence of this position is expected to be quite significant.

The voting results are scheduled to be announced around 5 PM today.

Image sources: Jeong Cheong-rae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / News1, Park Chan-dae, Acting Head and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea / News1, (Left) Jeong Cheong-rae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, (Right) Park Chan-dae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / News1