Gwangju Democratic Party Branch Notifies Incumbent Officials of “Bottom 20%” Evaluation

Including 1 District Mayor and 4 City Council Members

As the June 3 local elections approach, the Gwangju branch of the Democratic Party of Korea has reportedly notified individual incumbent elected officials of the results of its “bottom 20%” evaluation, creating tension in local political circles over the party nomination process.

According to the Gwangju branch of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 3rd, the Party’s Candidate Recommendation Management Committee for Public Office Elections notified incumbent elected officials in the Gwangju area individually the previous day as to whether they fell into the “bottom 20%” category. The evaluation covered heads of basic local governments (district mayors), city council members, and district council members, and was conducted in accordance with the Democratic Party’s city and provincial party evaluation system for incumbent elected officials.

In this evaluation, one district mayor and four city council members were included in the bottom 20%. Among district council members, a total of 10 were reportedly notified that they were in the bottom 20%: one in Dong-gu, two each in Seo-gu, Nam-gu, and Gwangsan-gu, and three in Buk-gu.

Those classified in the bottom 20% will face a penalty in future nomination screenings and primary races, with 20% of their votes to be deducted. As a result, attention is focusing on how these evaluation results will actually affect the nomination landscape.

Along with notifying the results, the Gwangju branch also guided officials through the objection process. Those who dispute their bottom 20% evaluation must fill out an objection form and submit it to the Party’s Candidate Recommendation Management Committee for Public Office Elections within 48 hours from the time of notification.

A Democratic Party official said, “As a rule, individual evaluation results are not made public,” adding, “The objection process and the nomination review will proceed in accordance with party regulations.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.